British Columbia health officials announced 161 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, the second most in a 24-hour stretch since the start of the pandemic.
It’s only behind the 165 cases that were announced on Sept. 17.
Of the most recent group of 161, 80 were identified in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 79 in Fraser Health, and one in Northern Health. The final patient involves an individual who resides outside of Canada.
In the same 24-hour stretch, 118 people have recovered and three more people have died, increasing the death toll to 238. It leaves the province’s active case count at 1,302.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C. provincial health officer, did not hold a press conference on Friday to discuss the recent spike in cases.
Since Sept. 21 — when the province had a record-high 1,987 currently infected patients — B.C. has seen its active case count consistently decrease except on a few occasions. The rise in cases it saw in July to September was accredited to an increase in private gatherings, sometimes indoors, among those under the age of 40.
It resulted in increased fines for party organizers, and ultimately the closures of all nightclubs and banquet halls in the province.
B.C. health officials were also forced to issue new exposure warnings each day around the province, because infected individuals were at various public destinations. Currently around B.C., there are 3,114 people who are self-isolating and are being monitored by public health because they were in contact with a patient.
In the latest 24-hour stretch, there has been one new health-care facility outbreak at Surrey Memorial Hospital, but the outbreaks at Yaletown House and Peach Arch Hospital have been declared over. In total, there are 14 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and three acute-care facilities that have active outbreaks in B.C.
According a press release, there have not yet been any outbreaks in schools across the province.
