Photo courtesy Canadian Press
COVID Update

624 new cases of COVID-19 in B.C., 11 more deaths

Dec 18, 2020 | 3:32 PM

VICTORIA — The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage on in British Columbia with another 624 new cases of the virus over the past 24 hours, four of which are epi-linked.

Here’s the regional breakdown of the new cases:

Vancouver Coastal Health: 106

  • Fraser Health: 406
  • Island Health: 5
  • Interior Health: 60
  • Northern Health: 47

That brings the total number of test-positive cases in B.C. to 45,400.

Sadly 11 more deaths for a total of 724 and there are currently 356 people in hospital province-wide – 92 of whom are in intensive care.

There are 9,978 active cases of the virus in B.C. and 10,211 people are under active public health monitoring as a result of exposure to known cases.

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix says that on Thursday, 1,376 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were given to B.C. front-line health-care workers, for a total of 2,592 doses to date.

“There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks,” he adds. “There has been one new community outbreak at Rossdown Natural Foods.”

“People in B.C. are counting on us,” he says. “Their faith in us is a reminder of what has not changed about this holiday season.

“It’s still a time to show kindness, generosity and consideration of others. There’s no better way to show these qualities than by continuing to act to stop COVID-19.”