It was another day with more than 500 new cases of COVID-19 in B.C.
That has brought the provincial total to 60,117 since the virus was first detected in B.C. nearly a year ago.
The good news is the number of hospitalizations from the disease fell to 349 today, down from 362 on January 14.
The number of those in intensive care is also down, falling from 74 to 68 in a single day.
Tragically, there have been another nine deaths from COVID-19, lifting B.C.’s total to 1,047 since the virus first arrived in the province.
“We have had one new health-care facility outbreak at Hilltop House,” provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a joint statement. “The outbreaks at Villa Cathay and Wingtat Game Bird Packers are now over.
“People throughout British Columbia are finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel.”
Henry and Dix reported that 260 of the 509 new cases were in the Fraser Health region. Another 101 were in Vancouver Coastal Health and 86 in the Interior Health regions.
The lowest daily totals were again reported in Northern Health (49) and Island Health (13).
So far, 75,914 people in B.C. have received a COVID-19 vaccine.
“We must never forget how far we have come by working together,” Henry and Dix said. “Over the past months, we have all made sacrifices for the health of our families and communities, and now more than ever we need to hold the line and stop transmission of COVID-19 as our vaccination program ramps up.”
