COVID cases stay under 200 in B.C.,vaccine clinics ‘busy’

A fourth straight day of less than 200 new COVID-19 cases in B.C.

The province reported 183 on Friday (June 4), with 30 in Interior Health.

Elsewhere, there were 40 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health, 101 in Fraser Health, three in Island Health and nine in the Northern Health region.

There has been one new death, for a total of 1,710 in B.C.

There are currently 2,453 active cases with 224 people hospitalized and 59 in intensive care.

There is one new outbreak at Kelowna General Hospital.

On the vaccine scene, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reported 72.4 per cent of all adults in B.C. and 69.6 per cent of those 12 and older have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

In total, 3,488,884 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines have been administered in B.C., 256,725 of which are second doses.

“This month will be extremely busy for our clinics – continuing with first doses for people 12 and older and also ramping up our second dose program,” Dr. Henry said. “Elders, seniors, clinically extremely vulnerable people and others who are highest risk will all be getting vaccinated with Dose 2, with more and more of the broader population following closely behind.

Henry encouraged everyone to make registering and booking Dose 1 and 2 appointments a priority.

Update on outbreaks:

·        Kelowna General Hospital unit 3E has three cases: two patients and one staff.

·        Spring Valley long-term care in Kelowna has 48 cases: 36 residents, 12 staff/other, with 11 deaths connected to the outbreak.