VICTORIA -- One more person has died of COVID-19 on Vancouver Island as health officials identified 35 new cases of the disease in the island region Wednesday.
The new cases were among 841 cases found across B.C. over the past 24 hours.
The Island Health region has now recorded 4,603 cases of COVID-19 and 36 deaths since the pandemic began.
Five more people across the province died of the disease Wednesday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix announced. A total of 1,576 people in B.C. have died since the pandemic began.
There are now 321 active cases of COVID-19 in the island region, including 25 people in hospital and seven more in critical care.
Island Health identified the locations of 269 active cases Wednesday, including 172 in the South Island, 79 in the Central Island and 18 in the North Island.
Public health workers have no administered just over 1.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the province, including 89,725 secondary doses.
“Each week, more and more vaccine is arriving in our province, and with each person who gets their vaccine, we are all a little safer,” Dix and Henry said in a joint statement.
“People 59 and older can now also take the next step of booking their appointment, and we encourage you to do that right away,” the health officials said. “This will open up to people 58 and older at midnight tonight.”
