Vancouver Island adds 69 new COVID-19 cases; active cases reach 470

Victoria -

Health officials identified 69 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Island region Wednesday.

The new cases were among 698 cases found across British Columbia over the past 24 hours, according to a statement Wednesday from the B.C. health ministry.

There are now 5,356 active cases of COVID-19 across B.C., including 470 active cases in the Vancouver Island region.

Island Health identified the locations of 397 active cases in the region Wednesday, including 171 in the South Island, 159 in the Central Island and 67 in the North Island.

There was one more death related to COVID-19 in B.C. on Wednesday. The death was recorded in the Fraser Health region, according to the ministry.

Since the pandemic began, 1,802 people have died of COVID-19 in B.C., including 43 in the Vancouver Island region.

Twenty-four people are in hospital with COVID-19 in the island region, including 12 patients in critical care, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control.

Two new health-care facility outbreaks were recorded Wednesday, in the Fraser Health and Interior Health regions. There are now 14 active outbreaks in B.C. health-care centres but no active outbreaks on Vancouver Island.

Approximately 84.2 per cent of British Columbians aged 12 and older have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 75.4 per cent have received two doses.

Between Aug. 10 and Aug. 23, people who are not fully vaccinated accounted for 83.3 per cent of B.C.’s COVID-19 cases and 85 per cent of hospitalizations, according to the province.

Health officials have administered 7,369,741 doses of COVID-19 vaccine in B.C. since December.