Health officials in British Columbia will provide their final COVID-19 update of the week on Friday afternoon.
The update comes after two days of record-setting highs for new infections across the province.
On Thursday, health officials identified 274 new cases of the virus in the past 24 hours, following the 203 new cases announced on Wednesday.
Active cases of the virus in B.C. have also been climbing, hitting 1,920 cases Thursday afternoon. At the same time, 71 people were reportedly in hospital with COVID-19, including 24 people in critical care.
There were no virus-related deaths announced Thursday, leaving B.C.’s COVID-19 death toll at 256.
Since the pandemic began, 249 cases of the virus have been found in the Island Health region.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and deputy health minister Stephen Brown are expected to release a written report on new COVID-19 cases after 3 p.m. Friday.