The B.C. Ministry of Health reported 624 new cases of COVID-19 across the province on Friday, for a total of 45,400 cases since the pandemic began.
In total, 10,969 of the cases are in the Vancouver Coastal Region, 27,413 in Fraser Health, 808 in Vancouver Island Health region, 3,124 in Interior Health, 1,509 in Northern Health region, and 108 people whose residence is outside of Canada.
The number of active cases in B.C. has decreased by 31 to 9,978.
There are now a total of 356 people in hospital due to COVID-19, 92 of whom are in critical care — ICU or acute care units.
11 more people have died from COVID-related causes, bringing the provincial death toll to 724.
10,211 people are in isolation, under active public health monitoring, after exposure to COVID-19.
A total of 33,589 people have recovered from novel coronavirus.
So far, 2,592 health care workers in the province have received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Outbreaks
No new health care facility outbreaks were declared on Friday.
In total, there are 55 long term care and assisted living facilities, and six acute care facilities with ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks.
One new community outbreak was reported Friday at Rossdown Farms and Natural Foods in Abbotsford.
There remain a number of ongoing COVID-19 exposure sites. B.C. residents are urged to check the BC CDC website for all public alerts about possible exposures to the virus.
Those who may have been exposed are asked to monitor their symptoms, reduce the number of contacts they have, and call 811 to get tested for the virus if they do develop symptoms.
Island Health region
Five new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Island Health region over the past 24 hours, and one person has died after contracting the virus.
In total, there have been 808 cases of COVID-19 in the region, 10 of whom have died. Five people in the region are currently in hospital, and one of them is in critical care after contracting the virus.
Island Health reports that as of Friday, December 18, there were 62 active cases in the region.
- South Vancouver Island Active cases: 26 (+2); Total Cases: 267 (+5)
- Central Vancouver Island Active cases: 24 (-10); Total Cases: 362
- North Vancouver Island Active cases: 12 (-6); Total Cases: 179
The COVID-19 case curve in the Vancouver Island health region as of December 18 is represented below:
To date, there have been a total of 1,351,612 novel coronavirus tests conducted across B.C., 148,989 of which were done in the Island Health region.
See all the latest updates about the global COVID-19 pandemic on Vancouver Island
The BCCDC has set up a novel coronavirus telephone information line at 1-833-784-4397 for those who have further questions about this virus.
Anyone concerned that they may have been exposed to, or are experiencing symptoms of the novel coronavirus, should contact their primary care provider, local public health office, or call 8-1-1.
The province has also created the 1-888-COVID-19 line to connect British Columbians needing non-medical information about the pandemic.
As of the time of publication, the total number of COVID-19 patients worldwide has risen to 75,912,553.
Over 1,679,413 people have died from the illness and 53,195,606 have recovered.
