VICTORIA -- A total of 146 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in B.C. since Friday, health officials announced Tuesday.
The update brings the total number of COVID-19 cases in the province to 3,787 since the pandemic began.
No new deaths were recorded over the past four days, leaving the province’s death toll at 195.
There remain 319 active cases of COVID-19 across the province, including eight people who are in hospital for treatment, four of whom require critical care.
One new outbreak has appeared at a long-term care home in the Fraser Health region. The outbreak is located at the Maple Ridge Seniors Village where one staff member has tested positive for the virus.
Meanwhile an outbreak at the Mission Memorial Hospital has been declared over, leaving three active outbreaks in the province’s health-care system, all of which are located at long-term care homes.
“As you can tell there have been a number of new cases over the long weekend,” provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said, adding that the new cases are not unexpected due to exposure events that were announced earlier this summer.
However, the new cases are still “concerning,” says Henry.
“We need to make sure that these new cases don’t lead to a dramatic uptick once again,” she said.
B.C.’s top doctor urged everyone who has been ordered to self-isolate to take the two week self-isolation period seriously. She also encouraged all British Columbians to visit with friends in a safe way.
Health officials say that many of the long weekend’s new cases are linked to social settings. Henry says that people should avoid spending extended periods of time with friends indoors, avoid large groups and refrain from sharing food or drinks with friends.
“While it (COVID-19) remains in B.C. we need to keep transmission low and slow,” said Henry.
Health officials added that contract tracing has revealed the source of most of the long weekend’s new COVID-19 cases, but not all.
Henry says that it is concerning that some of the cases do not have a known source yet. B.C.’s top doctor urged everyone to note where exposure events have taken place and to monitor for symptoms if they were in the area, even if they have not been contacted by health officials.
Most COVID-19 cases have been located in the province’s Lower Mainland, with 1,989 found in the Fraser Health region and 1,119 discovered in the Vancouver Coastal Health region since the pandemic began.
Meanwhile, the Island Health region has seen a total of 146 cases, an increase of two since Friday.
Elsewhere in the province, the Interior Health region has confirmed 377 COVID-19 cases and the Northern Health region has reported 91.
A total of 65 people who reside outside of Canada have tested positive for COVID-19 in B.C.
As of Tuesday, 3,273 people have recovered from the virus across the province.