VICTORIA -- Health officials identified 29 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Island region over the weekend as 49 more people across the province were killed by the pandemic.
The dead include 28 people in Fraser Health, 18 in Vancouver Coastal Health and three in Northern Health.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix announced 2,146 new cases across the province Monday, bringing B.C.’s total to 42,943 cases since the pandemic began.
The province’s COVID-19 death toll now stands at 647, while 10,039 cases are considered active Monday.
At least two of the new cases in the Island Health region were linked to Saanich Peninsula Hospital, where a deadly outbreak is entering its third week.
As COVID-19 vaccines begin to roll out across the country this week, health officials have designated a pair of sites – in Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health – to receive B.C.’s first doses.
Henry said Vancouver Island would receive its vaccines the following week.
“There will be vaccine delivered to the North, the Interior and Island Health next week,” B.C.’s top doctor said.
There are currently 90 active cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Island region, including seven people in hospital and five in critical care.
Eight people in the region have died of the disease since the pandemic began and 689 people have recovered.
There have been 787 cases recorded in Island Health since the start of the pandemic.
