BC has seen another record high day of COVID-19 as the last two days saw nearly 2100 cases, including 1072 cases in the last 24 hours. The third wave is hitting BC hard and it is no wonder that the authorities shut down indoor restaurant dining and brought in mandatory masks in schools to curb the ever rising tide of cases. Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, reported two periods: April 1 to 2, BC had 1,018 cases, and in the last 24-hours, there were further 1,072 cases, for a total of 2,090 new cases over two days and a total of 102,970 cases overall in British Columbia.

By PD Raj – Senior Writer DESIBUZZCanada 

VICTORIA – BC has seen another record high day of COVID-19 as the last two days sees nearly 2100 cases, including 1072 cases in the last 24 hours. The third wave is hitting BC hard and it is no wonder that the authorities shut down indoor restaurant dining and brought in mandatory masks in schools to curb the ever rising tide of cases.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, reported two periods: April 1 to 2, BC had 1,018 cases, and in the last 24-hours, there were further 1,072 cases, for a total of 2,090 new cases over two days and a total of 102,970 cases overall in British Columbia.

The authorities said some data are not available over the long weekend, including data on variants and hospitalizations.

"Ninety British Columbians are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.

"Since we last reported, we have had 709 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 1,052 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 147 in the Island Health region, 149 in the Interior Health region, 33 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

"To date, 856,801 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-SII COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C., 87,455 of which are second doses.

"We are working hard to deliver an easy-to-use provincial booking system for all British Columbians and know everyone is eager to book their appointment, beginning next week.

"Right now, vaccine bookings for people 72 and older, Indigenous peoples 18 and over, and individuals who are clinically extremely vulnerable continue throughout the long weekend. The AstraZeneca/COVISHEILD vaccine is also available to people between the ages of 55 and 65 on the Lower Mainland - B.C.'s highest transmission area.

"In partnership with the BC Pharmacy Association, we plan to expand the AstraZeneca vaccine program outside of the Lower Mainland by the end of next week to more communities throughout the province, including Dawson Creek, Fort St. John, Kamloops, Kelowna, Nanaimo, Parksville, Prince George, Quesnel, Terrace, Vernon and Victoria.

"An important reminder for everyone is that we should not be travelling outside our community or health authority for vacation or recreation right now. Consider day trips only or staying overnight in a local campground or hotel. We have seen too many cases of people travelling outside their health authority region and not using their layers of protection, leading to outbreaks and clusters in their home community.

"These outbreaks are avoidable, and right now we must stay within our local region - for the safety of your community and for others."