On April 21, B.C. reported 862 new cases of COVID-19 from 10,951 tests completed. There are 8,906 active cases and recoveries have now reached 111,039.

Currently, 483 are hospitalized with COVID-19 in B.C., with 163 of these in intensive care. Seven more deaths were reported, for a total of 1,546. There was no update on variants of concern.

Of the new cases, 26 were in the Nothern Health region, identified from 183 new tests. In the region, 20 people are hospitalized with nine in intensive care. There’s been a total of 6,526 recoveries and 136 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

B.C. reported cases numbers by local health are for the last week, April 11 to 17. In Peace River South, 76 new cases were reported, and 61 were reported in Peace River North.

(Courtesy B.C. Centre for Disease Control)

B.C. has now administered 1,456,946 doses of vaccines, with 88,335 people fully immunized with two doses.

Registration for the vaccine is now open for all British Columbians age 25 and up. This is the first step in the process for getting the vaccine; those who register will be contacted once they are eligible to receive their first dose.

People can register online, by calling 1-833-838-2323 or in person at a B.C. service office.

B.C. has also introduced a public health order giving WorkSafeBC the ability to close businesses for at least 10 days under the direction of health authority medical health officers. This is to help prevent transmission of the virus at work.

Read the full update HERE.