British Columbia reported 471 new cases of COVID-19 Friday, along with six additional deaths.
It came as the province released new modelling showing an improved case trendline, but extended restrictions on events and social gatherings, in-person worship and sports indefinitely.
“Between now and the end of the month, we will be continually reconsidering the need for the restrictions based on incidence and prevalence of the virus, new information about transmission, especially understanding the impact of variants, and the progress of vaccine supply and our immunization program,” health officials said in a written statement.
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Coronavirus: B.C.’s ban on social gatherings and events extended until further notice
The number of patients in hospital dropped to 253 — 70 of whom were in critical or intensive care.
There were 4,423 active cases, while another 6,886 people were in isolation due to possible exposure.
Of the new cases, 108 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 208 were in the Fraser Health region, 28 were on Vancouver Island, 56 were in the Interior Health region and 71 were in the Northern Health region.
A geographic breakdown by local health area released this week showed significant improvement on per-capita cases in parts of the north coast and the Interior, while parts of Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland trended in the wrong direction.
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According to the BC Centre for Disease Control, the province’s test-positivity rate remains at about 5.3 per cent, though it climbed to 13.7 per cent in the Northern Health region.
The province has administered 149,564 doses of COVID-19 vaccine — 10,366 of which were second doses.
About 90 per cent of B.C.’s 69,716 total cases have recovered, while 1,246 people have died.
As of Jan. 23, 72 per cent of B.C.’s pandemic-related fatalities were related to care-home outbreaks.