Vancouver Island adds 42 new COVID-19 cases; active cases reach 346

Victoria -

Health officials identified 42 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Island region Thursday.

The cases were among 689 cases found across British Columbia over the past 24 hours.

There are now 5,982 active cases of COVID-19 across B.C., including 346 active cases in the island region, according to the provincial health ministry.

Island Health identified the locations of 323 active cases Thursday, including 173 in the South Island, 112 in the Central Island and 38 in the North Island.

More than half of B.C.’s active cases are in the Interior Health region, where 278 new cases Thursday brought the region’s active case total to 3,368.

Eight people are in hospital with COVID-19 in the island region, and five more are in critical care, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control.

Two more people have died of the disease Thursday, including one person in the Interior Health region and another in the Northern Health region.

Since the pandemic began, 1,784 people have died of COVID-19 in B.C., including 42 in the Vancouver Island region.

There have been 158,256 COVID-19 infections in B.C. since the start of the pandemic, including 5,799 cases in the island region. 

There are currently 11 active COVID-19 outbreaks at long-term care and assisted living facilities across the province.

An outbreak at the Discovery Harbour long-term care home in Campbell River, B.C., was declared over on Thursday, two weeks after it was uncovered.

Approximately 82.9 per cent of British Columbians aged 12 and older have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 74 per cent have received two doses.

Health officials have administered 7,280,835 doses of COVID-19 vaccine in B.C. since December.