VICTORIA -- Health officials identified 86 new cases of COVID-19 on Vancouver Island over the weekend.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced the new cases in a live address Monday. The cases were among 1,236 new cases identified across B.C. since Friday, bringing the provincial total to 70,952 cases since the pandemic began.

Thirteen people in B.C. died of the disease over the weekend, bringing the provincial death toll to 1,259.

None of the deaths over the weekend were on Vancouver Island, where COVID-19 has killed 20 people and infected 1,869 since the pandemic began.

The BC Centre for Disease Control says there are 250 active cases of the disease in the island region Monday, representing a decrease from 270 active cases on Friday.

Island Health has identified the locations of 240 of those active cases. Most of them – 168 – are in the Central Island region, while 63 are in the South Island and nine are in the North Island.

Twenty-two people on the island are in hospital with COVID-19 and six people are in critical care.

Health officials in B.C. have now administered 154,496 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, including 12,111 secondary doses.

“Each week this month, our available (vaccine) supply will increase,” Henry said. “And we are looking forward to early in March when we anticipate being able to fully start our mass-vaccination clinics around the province.”

People over 80 years old will start receiving notices in the “coming days and weeks” about where to receive their vaccines, Henry said.

“We’re working on the details in every community across the province,” she said. “There will be multiple ways that we will be contacting people.”

B.C.’s top doctor said health officials have now confirmed 40 cases of COVID-19 variants in the province, including 25 confirmed cases of the U.K. variant. Four of those cases are on Vancouver Island and are related to travel or close contact with travellers.

Additionally, 15 people in B.C. are confirmed to have the South African variant, all of them in the Lower Mainland.

Only three of the 40 variant cases are now considered active and health officials believe there has been no further spread in “the majority” of those cases, Henry said. 

The health ministry continues to urge British Columbians to avoid gatherings and travel, especially over the coming Family Day holiday on Feb. 15.