Grim Milestone: COVID Has Taken Over 1,000 British Columbians Since Pandemic Began

[This story originally appeared on The North Coast Review, a blog based in Prince Rupert that contains “items of interest to those living on the North Coast of BC.”]

It was a somber day for the Monday COVID report from Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix, with the two top health officials in British Columbia announcing that the province has now gone above the 1,000 mark of those who have passed away from the coronavirus since January, 2020.

“Today, we are reporting on three periods. From Jan. 8 to 9, we had 538 new cases. From Jan. 9 to 10, we had 507 new cases and in the last 24 hours, we had a further 430 new cases. This results in a total of 1,475 new cases of COVID-19 over the three-day period, for a total of 58,107 cases in British Columbia,” they said, noting that there are currently 5,220 active cases across the province.  

The health officials added that “There have been 22 new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,010 deaths in British Columbia. We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the pandemic.”

Across the province the following totals were relayed over the course of the recent weekend.  

There were 287 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 736 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 59 in the Island Health region, 217 in the Interior Health region and 173 in the Northern Health region, which brings the Northern BC total to 2,518 cases since January of 2020.

There were also three new cases of COVID recorded in British Columbia by people who reside outside of Canada. 

When it comes to the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine, to date, 59,902 people have received the shot in B.C.

Dr. Henry and the health minister noted that their focus is to ensure we safely deliver the vaccines as quickly as possible to communities across the province, using all available supply. 

“Much thought and consideration have gone into our province’s approach and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines. This approach is founded on the scientific evidence available to us, in addition to our available supply, where the highest risks are in our community and who would be most severely impacted by the virus. What is important to know is everyone in the province who wants them will have access to vaccines,” Dr. Henry said.