Island adds 175 cases of COVID-19 as B.C. breaks daily record again

Vancouver Island saw 175 more cases of COVID-19 confirmed on Wednesday, and two more deaths from the disease.

The latest numbers came as part of a record-breaking 1,528 new cases confirmed across the province, the second time in as many days that B.C. has set a new single-day record for infections.

The figures came in a written statement from the provincial Ministry of Health, but were described as "provisional." The ministry initially reported 1,474 new infections and slightly different totals for regional and active cases. Updated numbers were posted to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control's COVID-19 dashboard later in the afternoon.

There are now 7,307 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, including 1,145 in the Island Health region.

Island Health identified the locations of 961 active cases Wednesday, including 524 in the South Island, 242 in the Central Island and 195 in the North Island.

The two deaths on the Island Wednesday were among six reported across B.C. Since the pandemic began, there have been 2,409 coronavirus-related deaths, including 138 on the Island.

The Ministry of Health said it had no new information to share Wednesday on the number of confirmed cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. An updated total will be provided on Thursday, according to the ministry.

As of Tuesday, 756 cases of Omicron had been confirmed in B.C., of which 204 were in Island Health.

Province-wide, there were 187 people hospitalized with COVID-19 on Wednesday, a figure that includes 71 in intensive care.

On the Island, there are 38 people in hospital, and 15 of them are in ICUs.

As of Wednesday, 87.6 per cent of eligible people in B.C. have received at least a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 82.7 per cent have received two shots. Sixteen per cent of eligible people have received a third dose.