On Feb. 18, B.C. reported 617 new cases from 9,147 tests completed. There are now 4,348 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 69,602 recoveries.

Right now, 224 people are hospitalized, with 60 of these in intensive care. In the province, four new deaths were reported, for a total of 1,321 deaths in British Columbia.

In the Northern Health region, there were 92 new cases found from 396 tests, for an active total of 316. There are 28 people in the hospital with nine of these in intensive care. There’s been a total of 3,797 recoveries and 102 deaths in the region.

In the previous week, Feb. 7 to 13, 18 new cases were found in the Peace River North and 31 in the Peace River South Local Health areas.

There’s now been 180,691 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the province, 29,952 of which are second doses.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health remind British Columbians to take care of their physical and mental health as we work through these hard days.

“We remind everyone about the importance of using all of our layers of protection: maintaining a safe distance from others, washing our hands regularly, staying home when we are ill, using a mask in all public spaces and having robust COVID-19 safety plans in all businesses.

“Equally important is the need to ensure you are following all provincewide public health orders and restrictions – especially with the uptick in cases in the Lower Mainland and northern region.

“We all know what we need to do. Until we have widespread vaccine availability, these small steps make a big difference in helping to keep all of us safe.”

Read the full update HERE.