The COVID-19 pandemic claimed two more lives in the Northern Health region on Friday, according to data reported by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
With the deaths, the only two reported in the province on Friday, the region's death toll from the pandemic increased to 114.
The deaths were reported on the same day the region had its third-highest single-day increase in new cases. A total of 82 new cases were reported in the north on Friday. The region's highest single-day increase in new cases was 95, reported on Feb. 17.
The number of active cases in the north increased from 321 on Thursday to 339 on Friday. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the north remained flat at 32, including 15 in critical care.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 5,443 COVID-19 cases in the Northern Health region.
It was a day of increased case counts across the province, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a joint statement released Friday afternoon.
"Today, we are reporting 737 new cases, for a total of 90,786 cases in British Columbia," Henry and Dix said. "There are 5,207 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 9,412 people under active public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases. Of the active cases, 292 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 85 of whom are in intensive care."
Despite having the smallest population of the province's five health authorities, Northern Health had more cases than Interior Health (33) and Island Health (32) combined.
The province continues to see cases of the COVID-19 variants dubbed "variants of concern."
"There have been 68 new confirmed COVID-19 cases that are variants of concern in our province, for a total of 1,200 cases," Henry and Dix said. "Of the total cases, 149 are active and the remaining people have recovered. This includes 1,094 cases of the B.1.1.7 (U.K.) variant, 41 cases of the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant and 65 cases of the P.1 (Brazil) variant."
Across the province, a total of 490,022 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, including 21,040 in the Northern Health region. In the north, 18,325 first doses and 2,715 doses have been administered to date – largely of the Pfizer vaccine, with nearly 3,200 of the Moderna vaccine. No doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered in the Northern Health region, as of Friday, the B.C. CDC reported.
A total of 4,391 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered in B.C., nearly all of which were administered in the Vancouver Coast and Fraser Health regions.
"The availability of the AstraZeneca/SII COVID-19 vaccine has allowed us to create a parallel vaccine program to our age-based provincewide immunization program," Henry and Dix said. "It is separate supply that supplements and adds onto the age-based vaccines, allowing us to strategically target active outbreaks and higher-risk populations and locations. With our AstraZeneca/SII supply for the coming weeks confirmed, we are able to start immunizing our front-line workers. We also remind workers that health authorities will contact employers directly to arrange immunizations, and calling the age-based booking line will not provide access to the parallel AstraZeneca/SII vaccine program."
According to the province, those 79 years old and older should be able to begin booking their COVID-19 vaccination appointment at noon on Saturday. However, the Northern Health region has been following an alternative, community-by-community vaccination timeline.
As of Friday afternoon, Northern Health 's website reported that Prince George residents 80 years old and older (65+ for Indigenous people) could book their vaccination appointment by calling 1-844-255-7555 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. seven days a week.
