The B.C. Ministry of Health reported 673 new cases of COVID-19 across the province on Thursday, for a total of 44,776 cases since the pandemic began.
In total, 10,863 of the cases are in the Vancouver Coastal Region, 27,007 in Fraser Health, 803 in Vancouver Island Health region, 3,064 in Interior Health, 1,462 in Northern Health region, and 108 people whose residence is outside of Canada.
The number of active cases in B.C. has increased by 59 to 10,009.
There are now a total of 358 people in hospital due to COVID-19, 93 of whom are in critical care — ICU or acute care units.
21 more people have died from COVID-related causes, bringing the provincial death toll to 713.
10,388 people are in isolation, under active public health monitoring, after exposure to COVID-19.
A total of 32,963 people have recovered from novel coronavirus.
1,215 health care workers in the province have received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine so far.
Outbreaks
No new health care facility outbreaks were declared on Thursday.
In total, there are 55 long term care and assisted living facilities, and six acute care facilities with ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks.
Two new community outbreaks were reported Thursday, including one at a poultry processing in the Fraser Health region and the other at an LNG Canada worksite in Kitimat.
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
Four 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 803 cases of COVID-19 in the region, nine of whom have died. Five people in the region are currently in hospital, and four of them are in critical care after contracting the virus.
Island Health reports that as of Thursday, December 17, there are 76 active cases in the region.
- South Vancouver Island Active cases: 24 (-2); Total Cases: 262 (+2)
- Central Vancouver Island Active cases: 34 (-2); Total Cases: 362 (+2)
- North Vancouver Island Active cases: 18 (-1); Total Cases: 179
The COVID-19 case curve in the Vancouver Island health region as of December 17 is represented below:
To date, there have been a total of 1,340,007 novel coronavirus tests conducted across B.C., 147,923 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 75,206,852.
Over 1,666,700 people have died from the illness and 52,788,025 have recovered.
