B.C. extends gathering restrictions as north sees 106 new COVID-19 cases

The province-wide ban on events and gatherings will continue into the new year.

Provincial Health Officer Doctor Bonnie Henry formally extended the restrictions until midnight of January 8, as B.C reported 2,020 new cases of COVID-19 in a three-day span.

#Breaking – Doctor Bonnie Henry says the gathering and event orders have been extended to January 8, 2021. Some exceptions are made for those living alone and drive through and drop off events. #bcpoli #covid19bc

— Catherine Garrett (@cath_garrett) December 7, 2020

She also revealed B.C. will receive its first doses of the Pfizer vaccine next week.

“It has to be kept at – 80 degrees,” said Doctor Henry, “There are limited places where we have the equipment and ability to do that, so we will be receiving small amounts to start with and we will be focusing on those we believe are most at risk.”

However, she points out the small number of vaccines available will not be enough to make a dent in community transmission right away.

“The light of the end of the tunnel, it’s there, but we need to do our piece in order to keep the rates low in order to prevent people from dying.”

#breaking – Dr. Bonnie Henry says BC will be receiving its first doses of the Pfizer vaccine next week. Health Officials will be doing a briefing on this in the coming days. #bcpoli #covid19BC

— Catherine Garrett (@cath_garrett) December 7, 2020

35 people passed away from the virus across the province, for a total of 527 fatalities.

Of the new cases, 106 were found to be in Northern Health, with a record 58 from Saturday to Sunday.

The health authority has now reported a total of 1,084 infections, with 356 active, 42 in hospital and 13 in ICU.

Across B.C., 9,380 cases are active and 349 people are in hospital and 77 people are in critical care.

There have been a total of 38,152 infections in the province since the onset of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, there are 10,747 people isolating as a result of an identified exposure and the recovery rate is 71.5 percent.

There have been six new outbreaks in the healthcare system and there are 65 ongoing.

Cases by day:

Fri – Sat: 647

Sat-Sun: 726

Sun-Mon:  647

New cases by region: (Over 3 days)

North – 106  (Total 1,084)

Interior – 203  (Total 2,265)

Vancouver – 304  (Total 9,725)

Fraser – 1362  (Total 24,261)

Island – 45  (Total 724)

#CovidBC update: 2,020 new cases since we last reported on Friday, for a total of 38,152 cases in BC.

Dec 4-5: 647 cases
Dec. 5-6: 726 cases
Last 24 hours: 647 cases

There have also been 35 new deaths, for a total of 527. https://t.co/pHSOhWnxhv #Covid19 pic.twitter.com/GVqHQmeRXi

— BC Government News (@BCGovNews) December 8, 2020