B.C. Covid update: 1,933 new cases, 17 new deaths

B.C. is reporting 1,933 new COVID-19 cases from over the weekend, along with 17 new deaths.

One-hundred and-four (104) of the cases were in Interior Health (IH), while 88 per cent were in the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health regions.

IH now has 272 active cases with three people in hospital, none in intensive care.

From Friday to Saturday, there were 713 cases; from Saturday to Sunday 626; and 594 from Sunday to Monday.

Of the new cases, 414 are in Vancouver Coastal Health, 1,304 in Fraser Health, 48 in Island Health, 104 in Interior Health, 61 in Northern Health and two people who reside outside Canada.

There are 7,360 active cases, with 277 people in hospital and 59 in critical or intensive care.

Currently, 10,200 people are under active health monitoring.

The 17 deaths over the weekend raised the death toll from the virus to 348.

“The majority were senior and elders in long term care,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer.

Thirteen of the victims lived in Fraser Health and four in Vancouver Coastal.

There are six new health care outbreaks, with now 60 in total.

The outbreak at the RIH Patient Care Tower construction site in Kamloops has 13 cases directly linked to the outbreak. The additional cases are not new, but identified through ongoing contact tracing.

“It is the most challenging of our time [in the pandemic], and we are all feeling the strain,” said Henry who implored residents to follow the intent of the health orders she issued last week.

“We need to reduce our social interactions as much as possible. That is where we are seeing transmission of the virus, particularly indoors. But it is to those people we are closest with, whether at work, at home, our social family or our social connections,” Henry added.

B.C. health officials are working to clear up confusion surrounding health restriction guidelines announced last week.

Dr. Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix spent part of their news conference Monday explaining what counts as an event or social gathering.

Non-essential travel is not recommended across the province, and worship services along with community and social events have been suspended.

Groups ranging from religious organizations to theatres have expressed confusion over the specifics of the plan, including what counts as an event.

(With files from The Canadian Press)