Five days of COVID-19 transmission numbers to be revealed at B.C. update

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — The province is set to hold its first COVID-19 update in almost a week after news that a more transmissible variant of the virus has been discovered in B.C.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix will have five days of numbers to share Tuesday afternoon in a live briefing. While it is a larger sample than the usual, the latest modelling data suggests B.C. is on a downward trend in daily case numbers.

However, infections and deaths are still at a relatively high level.

Today’s update will also be the first since the virus mutation, initially detected in the U.K., was found in B.C. At least six cases of the variant have been found in Canada so far. One other is in Alberta, one in Quebec, and the rest are in Ontario.

Several First Nations in the northern part of B.C. are due to receive their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Dease Lake and Telegraph Creek are among the first in line. Healthcare workers and those in Indigenous communities will be among the first to be vaccinated.

In the last update on Christmas Eve, 12 more deaths were recorded, meaning 808 lives have been lost to the virus since the pandemic began.

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There have been 48,609 confirmed cases of the virus, while a total of 8,178 people in B.C. have received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine so far. Hospitalizations remain high at 341.

Meanwhile, the Moderna vaccine made its way to the Yukon and Northwest Territories Monday. Ontario’s expects to have the vaccine Wednesday.

B.C.’s COVID-19 update will be streamed live at 3 p.m. and NEWS 1130 will be breaking down the numbers throughout the afternoon.