VANCOUVER —
British Columbia added 516 additional cases of COVID-19 to its total Friday, bringing the province to more than 25,000 confirmed cases since the pandemic began.
The province also added 10 more deaths from the disease, for a total of 331 overall.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix provided the new numbers in a written statement on B.C.’s response to the coronavirus Friday afternoon.
As of Friday, there are 7,122 active cases of the coronavirus in the province, the highest number ever.
That figure includes 227 people who are hospitalized, which is also a record. Fifty-seven of those are in intensive care.
The latest update comes just over a week after B.C. surpassed the 20,000-case mark, which happened on Thursday, Nov. 12. That means B.C. added roughly 5,000 cases of COVID-19 in just eight days.
The province took until Aug. 24 to record its 5,000th case of the disease.
Since the pandemic began, B.C. has recorded a total of 25,474 cases of COVID-19.
The 516 cases added Friday mark the lowest number added to B.C.’s total in a 24-hour period since Nov. 9, and the second consecutive day with fewer than 600 new cases, after six days surpassing that threshold.
That trend is a positive one that health officials will hope to see continue as B.C. enters a period of tightened restrictions on social gatherings province-wide.
“We are all feeling the strain of COVID-19,” Henry and Dix said in their statement. “By taking a step back right now, we will all be able to enjoy the confidence in knowing that here in B.C. we have flattened our curve once again.”
B.C. still has a long way to go toward that goal. There are currently more than 10,000 people under active public health monitoring because of exposures to known cases of COVID-19.
“The orders on social gatherings and events are to keep our families and friends safe,” Dix and Henry said. “The best way to do that is to decrease our social interactions and spend as little time as possible with those outside of our immediate household.”
Most of the new cases announced Friday are located in the Lower Mainland, with 294 in the Fraser Health region and 148 in Vancouver Coastal Health.
Elsewhere in B.C., Friday’s update included 31 cases in Interior Health, 25 in Northern Health and 17 in Island Health.
Henry and Dix also announced three new outbreaks of the coronavirus in health-care facilities, at Agecare Harmony Court Care Centre in Burnaby, Discovery Harbour Care in Campbell River and Youville Residence in Vancouver.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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