The Northern Health region had 10 new cases of COVID-19 over the long weekend.
On Tuesday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the total number of cases in northern B.C. since the start of the pandemic increased to 341 since her last update on Friday. The province as a whole saw 549 new cases over the four-day period, increasing the provincial total to 10,734.
"These numbers are higher than we like to see," Henry said. "At the end of last week there was a bit of a backlog (of tests to process). They processed about an extra day's worth of tests. The backlog has been cleared, and we plan to keep it that way."
The positivity rate of the tests remained at roughly 1.39 per cent, she said, which is consistent with the province's average rate.
Five new deaths – two in the Fraser Health region and three in Vancouver Coastal Health – were reported over the Thanksgiving weekend, Henry said. That brings the province's death toll from the pandemic to 250.
As of Tuesday, there were 1,476 active cases in B.C. and public health officials were monitoring 3,618 people for potential COVID-19 exposure, she said. In B.C. there were 77 people hospitalized with COVID-19, including 24 in intensive care.
On Tuesday, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported 16 active cases in the Northern Health region – up by three from Friday. One person in the north was hospitalized in intensive care with COVID-19.
On Tuesday, BC Hydro reported a third COVID-19 case at the Site C work camp. The Crown corporation said it was notified over the weekend that a contractor working on the site tested positive, and the worker is being quarantined on site.
It is the third confirmed case of COVID-19 at the hydro dam construction site near Fort St. John. The other two cases were in July and September and weren't related, BC Hydro said.
"The person had very limited contact with others," Henry said. "The processes they have in place at Site C worked."
As of Tuesday, there were 1,607 workers at the camp – six of which are in self-isolation.
— With files from the Alaska Highway News
