VICTORIA -- Health officials identified 47 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Island region Wednesday.
The new coronavirus cases were among 1,013 cases found across the province over the past 24 hours, bringing B.C.’s total to 100,048 cases since the pandemic began.
Wednesday's update marked the highest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases in the province since the pandemic began.
The previous record was set on March 25, 2021, when 996 COVID-19 cases were recorded over a 24-hour period, according to the B.C. COVID-19 dashboard.
Officials have now recorded 3,324 cases of COVID-19 in the island region since the pandemic began.
There are now 404 active cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Island region.
Island Health revealed the locations of 364 active cases in the island region Wednesday, including 181 in the South Island, 156 in the Central Island and 27 in the North Island.
There were three more deaths related to the disease in B.C. on Wednesday, bringing the province’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,458.
Officials did not have data available Wednesday on the number of new variant cases in the province.
Health officials have now administered 756,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in B.C., including 87,351 secondary doses.
Health officials are reminding British Columbians to avoid all non-essential travel and to follow health guidelines.
"We don’t yet have enough people protected through the vaccines to be able to put aside any of our safety precautions, so we need to continue to follow all the public health orders and guidelines we have in place," said provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix in a joint statement Wednesday.
While the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on younger British Columbians is still suspended, health officials say that the province's age-based immunization program is still on track.
"Everyone will have access to a safe and effective vaccine, and that remains on track to happen before Canada Day," said Dix and Henry.
The pair urge everyone to be cautious ahead of the upcoming long weekend.
"The risk for all of us is too great, which means any of our usual travel and holiday weekend gatherings need to be put on hold this year," they said.