The number of new COVID-19 cases in British Columbia continues to soar as health officials report 6,288 cases for a three day total, dating back to Christmas Eve.
The province continues to break its daily record for new COVID-19 case with the following numbers reported over the past three-days:
- December 24th to 25th: 2,552 new cases
- December 25th to 26th: 2,023 new cases
- December 26th to 27th: 1,713 new cases
The latest infections bring the total number of recorded cases in the province to 241,946 since the pandemic began.
In a written statement, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said the Ministry of Health will return to regular reporting of COVID-19 cases, vaccinations, hospitalizations and deaths, and cases and hospitalizations by vaccination status on Wednesday, December 29th.
New cases were reported in these health regions
- 3,181 new cases in Fraser Health
- 1,482 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health
- 713 new cases in Interior Health
- 174 new cases in Northern Health
- 737 new cases in Island Health
- one new case in person who resides outside of Canada
Breakdown of cases on Vancouver Island from December 24th:
- South Vancouver Island Active cases: 554 │Total Cases: 6,143
- Central Vancouver Island Active cases: 242 │ Total Cases: 6,764
- North Vancouver Island Active cases: 156│Total Cases: 2,521
The next COVID-19 update for BC will be provided on Tuesday, December 28th.
Earlier today, the province announced it will be extending the current provincial state of emergency into the new year with multiple highways still sitting damaged.
The provincial state of emergency was officially deployed back on November 17th after extreme rain falls resulted in floods and mudslides across BC.
The extension will run until January 11th, 2022.
“While significant progress has been made in recovery and repair efforts, there is still more to do to reopen our highways and get people back into their homes,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General.
“My thanks go out to all British Columbians for their patience and compliance during these challenging times, and to the crews who have worked tirelessly to get these highways back open.”
The order restricting travel on highways 5 and 99 will remain in place.
This includes:
- Highway 5 (Coquihalla) between Hope and Merritt (only commercial vehicles with a minimum licensed gross vehicle weight of 11,794 kilograms, and inter-city buses are permitted)
- From the junction of Highway 99 and Lillooet River Road to the BC Hydro Seton Lake campsite access in Lillooet (open to all traffic, but vehicles weighing more than 14,500 kilograms are not permitted)
“Reopening the Coquihalla to commercial trucks and intercity buses was an important step in our recovery from November’s storm damage,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
“Repairs to our highway infrastructure are progressing well. However, with winter conditions here and more work to do, some restrictions must remain in place.”
For worldwide COVID-19 stats, click here.
