A total of 16 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Northern Health region over the weekend, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a joint statement.
Only 277 new cases were reported over the weekend throughout the province and the number of active cases in B.C. was down more than 18 per cent from Friday, Henry and Dix said. The statement was issued on Monday, the day that Premier John Horgan announced that B.C. is moving to the next stage of its restart plan.
"Today, we are reporting that 75.9 (per cent) of all adults in B.C. and 74.1 (per cent) of those 12 and older have now received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine," Henry and Dix said. "In total, 4,048,346 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C., 613,453 of which are second doses."
In the Northern Health region, a total of 182, 219 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered – 149,841 first doses and 32,378 second doses – according to data released by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
The number of active COVID-19 cases in the region grew by four over the weekend, rising to 78, according to the B.C. CDC. However, the number of people hospitalized with COVID in the region dropped from five on Friday to two on Monday. Both of those people were in critical care.
No new COVID-related deaths were reported in the region, leaving the north's death toll from the pandemic at 154.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 7,767 cases of COVID-19 in the Northern Health region, of which 7,535 have recovered.
"As Premier John Horgan shared, we are moving slowly and cautiously, closely watching community transmission and our rates of immunization to ensure we have the confidence to safely increase our social connections," Henry and Dix said. "As we bridge to Step 2, the provincial health officer's orders have been amended to allow for some increases in gatherings in our homes, restaurants and businesses. Let's keep moving forward safely as we enter this exciting next stage in BC's Restart plan."
Anyone who hasn't registered to be vaccinated can do so by going online to www.gov.bc.ca/getvaccinated or phone 1-833-838-2323 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily.
"In British Columbia, every eligible person should register through the Get Vaccinated system, regardless of where they received their first vaccine dose," Henry and Dix said. "Our target immunization rate is 100 per cent – to get as many people fully vaccinated as soon as we can – so please register and book your appointments as soon as you are eligible."
