There are 186 active cases of COVID-19 in the Island Health region, including 59 reported over the weekend. That number includes 117 in the central island region, an increase of 21 since Friday, along with 37 in the south and 32 in the north.
There were 610 COVID-19 tests done in the Island Health region in the past 24 hours.
Island Health declared an outbreak at Hart House long-term care home in Victoria after a staff member tested positive for the virus on the weekend. All 17 residents were tested for COVID-19 and none have experienced symptoms so far.
There are eight people hospitalized with the virus and one in ICU in the Island Health region, according to the B.C. government’s COVID-19 dashboard.
B.C. recorded 1,475 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend, including 430 in the past 24 hours. There are 5,220 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, down 898 since Friday. That number includes 358 people in hospital and 72 in critical care. There were 22 deaths from COVID-19 over the weekend, bringing the province’s death toll past 1,000. The province’s seven day rolling average for new cases is 558.
B.C. has vaccinated 59,902 people for COVID-19 so far, according to Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer. The province has received a total of 71,200 vaccines.
“Everybody will have their turn. The focus is on these core groups between now and the end of March, but we expect more vaccine and more vaccines to be approved come March,” said Henry.
Henry addressed concerns about the province’s decision to delay second doses of the vaccine to 35 days and said the health authority consulted with vaccination experts and data before the change. She said vaccine trials showed no difference in effectiveness between 19 days and 42 days in between doses.
