What you need to know about COVID-19 in B.C. for Feb. 16

THE LATEST:

• On Tuesday, B.C. health officials said 1,533 more cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the last four days.
• Another 26 people died of the disease over the Family Day long weekend.
• As of Tuesday, there are 231 patients hospitalized for COVID-19, including 74 in intensive care.
• There are 4,189 active cases of the novel coronavirus across the province.
• A total of 1,314 people have died of COVID-19 in B.C. out of 74,283 confirmed cases.
• To date, 171,755 doses of vaccine have been administered, including 22,914 second doses.

B.C. health officials say far too many people are bending the rules against social gatherings as the number of COVID-19 cases begins creeping up in some parts of the province.

During Tuesday's update on long weekend numbers, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said she's starting to see an increase in the seven-day average of new cases in Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health.

"We're not having those safe interactions as much as we need to be," she said.

Tuesday's update was the first in four days, and included 1,533 new confirmed cases and 26 more deaths from COVID-19.

There are currently 4,189 known active infections with the novel coronavirus, including 231 people who are in hospital, of whom 74 are in intensive care.

To date, B.C. has recorded 74,283 cases of COVID-19, including 1,314 people who have died. Officials have now confirmed 40 cases of the variant of concern first identified in the U.K., 19 of the variant first identified in South Africa and one of a lesser known variant from Nigeria.

As of Tuesday, 171,755 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, including 22,914 second doses.

Also on Tuesday, the First Nations Health Authority announced that anyone living in a First Nations community in B.C. should have access to the first dose of a vaccine by the end of March. That includes the Nuxalk Nation in Bella Coola, where COVID-19 vaccines are arriving once again this week, a month after Vancouver Coastal Health dramatically removed a vaccine shipment to the community.

• Help CBC British Columbia tell your COVID-19 stories

Vancouver Coastal Health on Monday issued an exposure notice for the Gracie Barra Kitsilano martial arts school on West Broadway in Vancouver.

The authority said possible exposures occurred during business hours Feb. 1-6 and Feb. 8-10. The possible exposure is believed to be low risk, but anyone who was at the facility during that time should monitor themselves for symptoms. 

Meanwhile, Omega Laboratories Inc., a huge U.S.-based forensic lab, has chosen Coquitlam as the location where it will process thousands of coronavirus tests each day to screen film industry workers for the virus and keep productions rolling.

READ MORE:

• A Nass Valley man recovering from COVID-19 is mourning the loss of his parents, who died of the same disease just a few days apart.
• Some British Columbians are struggling to get answers on COVID-19 quarantine rules, and they're finding advice from the province sometimes conflicts with that of the federal government.
• A COVID-19 "long-hauler" is calling for easier access to antibody tests in B.C. to better determine the spread of the novel coronavirus.
• Reaching for some common painkillers could blunt the effect of the COVID-19 vaccine, experts say.

What's happening elsewhere in Canada

As of 3 p.m. PT Monday, Canada had reported 825,785 cases of COVID-19, with 35,984 cases considered active.

A total of 21,293 people have died.