The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of four more northern B.C. residents.
On Monday, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported that the Northern Health region's death toll from the pandemic had grown to 52 – up from 48 in Friday's update.
""There have been 31 new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,078 deaths in British Columbia," provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a joint statement released on Monday afternoon. "We offer our condolences to everyone who has lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic."
There were 166 new cases of COVID-19 in the Northern Health region since Friday's update, according to the B.C. CDC data. The region's number of active cases rose to 531, up from 497 on Friday.
The Northern Health's case counts are moving the opposite direction of the province as a whole. On Monday, the province had 4,326 active cases of COVID-19, down from 4,604 on Friday and 5,232 a week ago.
Across B.C. there were 343 hospitalized with COVID-19, including 68 in critical care. Forty of those hospitalized were in the Northern Health region, and 16 of those people were in critical care.
B.C. had a total of 1,330 new cases of COVID-19 since the last update, bringing the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 61,447 – including 2,911 in the north.
A breakdown of COVID-19 cases by local health area released by the B.C. CDC reported there were 108 cases of COVID-19 in the Prince George area between Jan. 3 and Jan. 9.
A map showing cases by Health Service Delivery Area showed 132 cases between Jan. 8 and Jan. 14 in the Northern Interior area, which includes Prince George.
As of Monday, 87,346 British Columbians have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
"With notice of a temporary reduction in Pfizer vaccine supply in Canada, we have adjusted our immunization program to match availability," Henry and Dix said. "Our focus continues to be on immunizing all those in long-term care, as well as the people who care for the residents, and starting dose two at 35 days."
As of this week, the B.C. CDC will add vaccination information to its COVID-19 dashboard information.
"We have to remember that even though our COVID-19 immunization program is underway, the risks remain high. This is why we all need to continue using our layers of protection and follow the public health orders, to keep everyone without a vaccine as safe as possible," Henry and Dix said. "The COVID-19 vaccines are incredibly effective, greater than what we see in the vaccines for many other illnesses. But right now, it is our individual efforts that have the biggest impact. Let's show each other that we remain committed to doing our part to keep everyone safe, to protect our seniors and Elders who have not yet had the vaccine, our neighbours and loved ones."
