COVID-19 cases still low in Northern Health, as cases surge in B.C.

One more resident of the Northern Health region has died of COVID-19, the B.C. Ministry of Health reported on Wednesday.

The death brings the north’s death toll from the pandemic up to 273.

Northern Health saw 35 new cases of COVID-19 reported on a day that saw B.C. report a record 1,474 new cases. The number of active cases in the Northern Health region rose by five from Tuesdays, to 191.

As of Wednesday, 11 people were hospitalized with COVID in the Northern Health region, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported, of which five were listed in critical care.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 18,343 cases of COVID-19 in the Northern Health region, of which 17,868 people have recovered.

A total of 417,963 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the Northern Health region as of Wednesday.

Across B.C., 87.4 per cent of eligible people (ages five and up) had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 82.7 per cent had received a second dose.