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Vancouver Island adds 2 new COVID-19 deaths, 82 more cases

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Victoria -

The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) identified 82 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Island region Tuesday.

The new cases were among 652 cases recorded across the province over the past 24 hours, according to BCCDC data.

There are currently 5,992 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C., including 677 active cases in the island region, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control.

Thirty-five people are in hospital for treatment of COVID-19 on Vancouver Island, including 15 people receiving critical care.

Island Health identified the locations of 577 active cases Tuesday, including 299 in the South Island, 235 in the Central Island and 43 in the North Island

Two more people have died of COVID-19 in the Island Health region. They were the only deaths reported across the province Tuesday.

Since the pandemic began, 1,942 people have died of COVID-19 in B.C., including 65 deaths in the Island Health region.

On Tuesday afternoon, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix provided a live update on the province's management of the pandemic.

At the live update, Henry announced that B.C. would be offering a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine to residents of long-term care homes and assisted living facilities. The booster shots will begin next week, said Henry.

Roughly 87.8 per cent of people aged 12 and older in B.C. have now received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 80.6 per cent of eligible people have received two doses.

In total, the province has administered 7,812,228 doses of vaccine since it began its immunization campaign in December.

Meanwhile, B.C.'s health minister said Tuesday that more contact-tracing staff will be added to all health authorities across the province.

As of Tuesday, there are 1,164 contact tracers working across B.C., and Dix says the province plans to add another 147 workers as soon as possible.

New temporary health order

During the live update, B.C.'s top doctor also announced that new temporary health orders were coming to the Fraser Health region, specifically the Fraser East local health area, starting Tuesday.

Henry said the temporary measures are similar to what was placed in the Central Okanagan region earlier this summer, including caps on indoor and outdoor social gathering sizes, and limits on capacity for some events.

Additionally, Henry and Dix said that each health authority will soon be posting school COVID-19 exposures on their own websites.

The health authorities will no longer send out letters to school communities about possible exposures, with health officials saying that online updates are a more effective means of communication.

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