VICTORIA -- Health officials have identified 27 new cases of COVID-19 in the Island Health region Thursday.
Across the province, 465 cases of COVID-19 and six deaths related to the virus were recorded over the past 24-hours.
"We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic," said provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix in a joint written statement.
The Island Health region has now seen 1,755 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
Of those cases, 265 are currently active in the Vancouver Island region.
Island Health has identified the locations of 234 of the active cases. Fifty-seven of the active cases are located in the South Island, 168 are active in the Central Island and nine are active in the North Island.
There are currently 4,447 active cases of COVID-19 across B.C., including 257 people who are in hospital for treatment of the virus, 76 of whom require critical care.
On Vancouver Island, 16 people are in hospital for the virus, and five more are receiving intensive care.
One new health-care outbreak has been declared at Mountain View Manor in the Fraser Health Authority Thursday.
Meanwhile, an outbreak at Chartwell Malaspina Care Residence, located in Nanaimo, has been declared over. The outbreak was first declared on Dec. 27 and claimed the lives of two residents.
Health officials are urging British Columbians to avoid making plans to watch the Super Bowl with anyone outside of their household this weekend.
“As we make plans for the weekend ahead, let’s ensure we don’t make the Super Bowl a superspreading day, by making safe choices,” said Dix and Henry. “This is especially important given we are still learning about the full impact of the variants of concern now in our communities.”
Earlier Thursday, the B.C. government announced new health measures for schools, including the mandatory use of face masks by students in most settings.
