COVID-19 claimed the lives of seven more people in Northern Health over the weekend, according to B.C. Centre for Disease Control numbers issued Monday.
The count raises the total to 74 for the region since the pandemic broke out and were among 21 province-wide.
Active cases in Northern Health tumbled to 359 from 509 on Friday, although 28 new cases were reported. The number in hospital declined by eight to 35 of which 15 were in intensive care, unchanged from Friday.
Across B.C., active cases stood at 4,134, down 423. Fraser Health accounted for the most at 1,513, followed by Vancouver Coastal at 1,039, Interior at 965 and Vancouver Island at 252. Out-of-Canada cases stood at six.
Speaking at a teleconference with provincial media, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry noted Super Bowl weekend, Lunar New Year and Family Day are on the calendar, and urged people to keep their gatherings for those events to their immediate households.
On whether restaurants and bars will face further restrictions, Henry said that if the current ones are followed, "we know that those environments can be safe."
She said inspectors from WorkSafeBC and the Ministry of Health will be stepping up monitoring and enforcement.
"But it's on us as well," Henry said. "We should not be going with a different group every night to a restaurant. We should not be breaking those rules that put staff and restaurant businesses at risk."
B.C. is currently the only province where such businesses have been kept open, she added, and credited the safety plans that are in place.
Henry will announce Friday whether the current restriction to keep social contacts to immediate household will remain in place.
Meanwhile, Shas Ti Kelly Road Secondary School was added to Northern Health's list of possible exposures for January 25-27. Students can continue to attend if they have not been notified by a public health official.
