After a week of dropping case numbers, the Northern Health region saw a small increase in COVID-19 cases reported on Friday.
In a joint statement, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix reported 25 new cases in the Northern Health region.
Data released by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control showed the number of active cases in the north grew by four from Thursday to Friday, to 131. The slight increase comes after a week of steady declines.
The Northern Health region had 177 active cases of COVID-19 on May 7 – a 22.6 per cent drop in seven days.
As of Friday, nine people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the north, including three in critical care.
Henry and Dix reported two new COVID-related deaths in the province on Friday, neither of which was in the Northern Health region. The province's death toll from the pandemic rose to 1,634, including 143 residents of northern B.C.
Provincially, 494 cases were reported in B.C. across all health authorities.
"There are 5,548 active cases of COVID-19 in the province," Henry and Dix said. "Of the active cases, 387 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 141 of whom are in intensive care."
Since the start of the pandemic there have been 138,304 cases of COVID-19 in B.C., including 7,418 in the Northern Health region.
As of Friday, 2.39 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C., including 116,056 doses in the Northern Health region.
"Today, anyone 25 and older can book their vaccine and by the end of the weekend, all adults 18 and older across B.C. will be eligible," Henry and Dix said. "Don't wait until you are eligible to book. Rather, take two minutes today to register in advance to fast track your appointment booking."
To book online, to go https://gov.bc.ca/getvaccinated. Or call 1-833-838-2323 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily.
"As we have seen, our vaccines are working,' Henry and Dix said. "They are protecting those who are highest risk and as everyone gets vaccinated, they will protect you and the people around you, too."
