Ninety new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Northern Health region over the weekend, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said on Monday.
The number of active cases in the region wasn't provided, but the B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported 487 active cases in the north on Monday – the highest number of active cases reported in the region to date. There were 43 people hospitalized in the Northern Health region on Monday, including 20 in intensive care.
Throughout the province, there were 1,667 new cases reported since Friday's update, Henry said.
"We are starting to see a levelling off of our curve. But it is flattened at quite a high level," Henry said. "The interior and the north are having quite large transmission events, given the relative population."
There were 9,718 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C. as of Monday's update. A total of 341 people were hospitalized, including 80 in intensive care.
More than 3,600 British Columbians were vaccinated against COVID-19 last week, and doses of the vaccine have been delivered to sites in every health authority in the province, she said. Teams at the nine sites – including one in the North – are preparing to be able to start delivering vaccine to top-priority recipients, she said.
Northern Health reported the arrival of the first batch of vaccine at the University Hospital of Northern B.C. on Monday morning. See story here.
"Please be patient. As information becomes available, we will share it," Henry said. "There are many, many moving parts right now."
Currently, Pfizer will only ship doses of the vaccine to the two designated entry points in the Lower Mainland, she said. Once that changes, and other logistical challenges can be resolved, more details will be available about the vaccination plan in the regions outside the Lower Mainland.
"I'm being slightly vague, because so much is still up in the air," Henry said. "It is challenging and frustrating."
The discovery of a new, faster-spreading strain of the COVID-19 virus just emphasizes the need to get people immunized as quickly as possible, she said.
"The strain that is circulating the U.K. has not been seen in Canada or British Columbia," Henry said.
Current indications suggest that the current COVID-19 vaccines, and current tests, are effective and preventing and detecting the new strain, Henry said.
While the vaccination campaign is just beginning, the pandemic's death toll continues to grow.
Forty-one new deaths linked to COVID-19 were reported since Friday's update, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said – 17 in Fraser Health, 14 in Vancouver Coastal Health, nine in the Interior Health region and one on Vancouver Island.
"These are very, very difficult times," to lose a loved one, Dix said.
Since the start of the pandemic, a total of 765 British Columbians have died from COVID-19 – including 15 people in the Northern Health region.
On Monday, Northern Health reported a new COVID-19 exposure at St. Mary's Catholic School in Prince George. The exposure event took place on Dec. 8-11, and is the fourth COVID-19 exposures at the school this month.
Northern Health also reported a pair of new exposures at schools in Terrace on Monday.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 47,067 cases of COVID-19 in B.C. – including 1,599 in the Northern Health region.
