B.C. recorded 716 new COVID-19 cases and three deaths over the last 24 hours. There are now 5,573 active cases, including 303 people hospitalized with the virus, 85 of them in critical care.
Island Health reported 26 more cases, bringing the total number of active cases to 222. Of those, 107 are in the central island region, 98 are in the south island and 17 are in the north.
Fourteen people are in hospital with COVID-19, two of them in ICU. No new deaths were reported in Island Health.
The province has administered 582,634 doses of the three COVID-19 vaccines, including 87,180 second doses, according to a joint statement by Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer and Adrian Dix, minister of health.
Starting tomorrow at noon, people over 75 can book their COVID-19 vaccine appointment and by Friday people aged 74 and older can book. Starting March 29, people who are considered clinically extremely vulnerable and receive a letter from the province will also be able to book vaccine appointments.
Another 71 variant of concern (VOC) cases were confirmed in the past day, making the total 1,581, though only 148 are considered active, according to the province.
“This includes 1,397 cases of the B.1.1.7 (U.K.) variant, 44 cases of the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant and 140 cases of the P.1 (Brazil) variant,” reads the statement.
Across B.C., 550 more people have recovered from the virus, bringing the total to 86,857. There are 9,696 people under active public health monitoring.
