There are 207 active cases of COVID-19 in the Island Health region, including 11 reported in the last 24 hours. That number includes 106 in the central island region, up five since yesterday, along with 69 in the south and 32 in the north.
There are nine people hospitalized with the virus and four in ICU in Island Health, according to the B.C. government COVID-19 dashboard.
“While we have seen the start of encouraging trends in our COVID-19 curve, the number of new cases and people with serious illness requiring care in hospital remains high,” said a joint statement from Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, minister of health.
Across B.C., 566 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours. There are 9,315 active cases of COVID-19 in the province — down 65 since yesterday, including 352 people in hospital and 74 in critical care.
There were 16 deaths from the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours. No new healthcare or community outbreaks were reported.
“Let’s make the coming weeks our ‘winter break’ by breaking the chain of transmission in our province. We can still be festive and enjoy the season, but let’s ensure it is only with our immediate household or, if you live on your own, with one or two close contacts,” said the statement.
The province extended its state of emergency another two weeks to the end of the day on Dec. 22.
