B.C. health authorities are reporting 89 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, as 1,775 active cases remain across the province.
So far, 6,041 people have contracted the illness, 450 of which have been in the Interior Health region.
According to recently updated provincial statistics, B.C. has a recovery rate of about 79%.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer said one more death has been attributed to COVID-19. 210 British Columbians have died from the virus.
In recent weeks, the median age for new infections has gone from 50 down to 41.
“What this reflects is the fact that many of our new cases are in younger people,” said Dr. Henry.
Henry added that hospitalizations have increased slightly last week, but remains low, and has gone down since the initial wave of the pandemic when 20% of cases ended up in the hospital.
As well, community transmission rates are low in the Interior Health jurisdiction, as the rate is 1.9 per 100,000 people. Meanwhile, the transmission rate in the Vancouver Coastal area is the highest in the province, at 18.6 per 100,000 people.
“When we put that into the context of some of the guidance come out of Europe and the U.S., where the cutoff for being safe for things like the full opening of schools and businesses, they use a measure of 25 per 100,000. We can see across B.C., we are well below that,” explained Henry.
Currently, B.C. is seeing the highest numbers of tests done per day, according to Henry. between 4,000 and 5,000 tests are being done every day, with 2% coming back positive.
Anyone showing any COVID-19 symptoms can get tested by getting in touch with local healthcare facilities.
Dr. Henry once again urged caution going into the Fall with the oncoming respiratory season.
“We need to continue to work to break those chains of transmission as efficiently and effectively as possible, and we all play a role in that,” said Henry. “Our focus needs to be on keeping the balance, maintaining our vibrant, healthy communities, and keeping new cases low. Our well-being as a province is about getting back to work, getting back into classrooms, keeping businesses going and staying healthy. It’s not an either-or situation.”