VICTORIA -- British Columbia health officials identified 21 new cases of COVID-19 on Vancouver Island on Tuesday.
The new cases were among 465 cases added across B.C., according to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix.
Twelve more people in B.C. died of the virus over the past 24 hours, bringing the province’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,090.
“We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dix and Henry in a statement Tuesday.
A total of 1,306 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in the Island Health region since the pandemic began.
There are currently 187 active cases in the island region, including 14 people in hospital and five people in critical care, according to Island Health.
The health authority says that 29 cases are active in the South Island, 134 are active in the Central Island and 24 are active in the North Island.
Seventeen people have died of COVID-19 on Vancouver Island and 1,095 have recovered since the pandemic began.
Island Health posted the lowest number of new cases of any of B.C.’s five health authorities Tuesday. Vancouver Coastal health reported 83 new cases, Fraser Health added 262 new cases, Interior Health recorded 61 new cases and Northern Health added 32 new cases.
Six new cases were also identified in people who live outside the country.
There were no new COVID-19 outbreaks reported anywhere in the province Tuesday, Dix and Henry said.
B.C. health officials have now administered 92,369 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“The COVID-19 vaccines bring hope and challenge: Hope, knowing that in a few months many people will have immunity to this virus; and challenge because of the current limited supply – in B.C., Canada and around the world,” said Dix and Henry.
“The vaccines are our path forward to the brighter days ahead,” they added. “However, until that path is wide enough for everyone, we must continue to focus on our individual efforts.”
