Vancouver Island records 65 new COVID-19 cases, 1 death

Victoria -

Health officials identified 65 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Island region Thursday.

The new cases were among 774 cases found across British Columbia over the past 24 hours, according to a statement from the B.C. health ministry.

There are now 5,594 active cases of COVID-19 across B.C., including 487 active cases in the Vancouver Island region.

Island Health data identified the locations of 428 active cases in the region Thursday, including 182 in the South Island, 180 in the Central Island and 66 in the North Island.

There were five more deaths from COVID-19 reported in B.C. on Thursday, including one in the Island Health region, three in the Fraser Health region and one in the Northern Health region.

Since the pandemic began, 1,847 people have died of COVID-19 in B.C., including 53 in the Vancouver Island region.

Seventeen people are in hospital with COVID-19 on Vancouver Island and 14 patients are in critical care, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control.

There are currently 22 active outbreaks in B.C. health-care facilities, including one outbreak on Vancouver Island.

The outbreak at the Sunset Lodge care home in Victoria has grown to 36 cases and four residents have died of the illness.

As of Thursday, 85.3 per cent of British Columbians aged 12 and older have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 77.8 per cent have received two doses.

Health officials have administered 7,570,924 doses of COVID-19 vaccine in B.C. since December.