B.C. has recorded 624 more identified cases of COVID-19 Friday, with 356 people now in hospital with coronavirus conditions, 92 in intensive care.
Public health officials have reported 11 more deaths, but there were no new outbreaks reported in the health care system.
Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reported that there was a new community outbreak, at Rossdown Farms and Natural Foods, a poultry processor in Abbotsford.
The latest diagnosed cases followed the recent pattern, with 402 in Fraser Health, 106 in Vancouver Coastal, 60 in Interior Health, 47 in Northern Health and five on Vancouver Island.
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Dix reported that on Dec. 17, another 1,376 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were administered to front-line health care workers as part of the first round of immunizations in B.C. Henry expects that B.C. will begin receiving weekly shipments of the vaccine next week, allowing public health staff to begin vaccinations in the rest of B.C., as well as the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health regions that have seen most of the cases in the fall surge of the novel coronavirus.
@tomfletcherbc
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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