VICTORIA -- Health officials identified 12 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Island region Wednesday.
The new cases were among 498 cases found across the province over the past 24 hours, bringing B.C.’s total to 89,427 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.
Health officials have now recorded 2,800 cases of COVID-19 in the island region since the pandemic began.
There were four more deaths from the disease reported in B.C. on Wednesday, bringing B.C.’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,411. None of the deaths were on Vancouver Island, where 28 people have died in the pandemic.
There are currently 225 active cases of COVID-19 on Vancouver Island, including 10 people in hospital and three in critical care.
Island Health officials identified the locations of 193 active cases Wednesday, including 68 in the South Island, 92 in the Central Island and 33 in the North Island.
The province has now administered 444,140 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, including 87,093 secondary doses.
Health officials did not provide any new updates on the number of COVID-19 variants of concern in the province Wednesday, blaming a lab sequencing problem.
At last count Tuesday, there were 996 variant cases in B.C., including 130 active cases.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry urged British Columbians to refrain from indoor gatherings and to keep outdoor gatherings to groups of 10 or fewer people.
“Some may choose a day of snowshoeing, others a bike ride with friends or a playdate at your local beach,” Dix and Henry said. “The key is to keep it small, to keep to the same group of people and to keep using your protective layers."
