Over a three-day period, the B.C. government is reporting 9,332 new cases of COVID-19.
The breakdown is as follows:
- Dec. 31, 2021 - Jan. 1, 2022: 4,033 new cases
- Jan. 1-2, 2022: 3,069 new cases
- Jan. 2-3, 2022: 2,230 new cases
Today's case counts are preliminary. The new infections bring the total number of cases since the pandemic began to 264,181.
The new cases include:
- 4,859 new cases in Fraser Health
- 1,797 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health
- 1,185 new cases in Interior Health
- 1,117 new cases in Island Health
- 374 new cases in Northern Health
Today's testing covered three 24-hour periods since last Friday and does not include regular reporting of hospitalizations and deaths, and cases and hospitalizations by vaccination status. The Ministry of Health will return to regular reporting of COVID-19, on Tuesday, Jan. 4.
Last Friday, 3,795 more positive tests were reported, which pushed the seven-day case average to a new record high of 2,738, more than quadruple the average from just a couple of weeks ago. The number of hospitalizations rose by 27 after weeks of relatively minor fluctuations.
The ministry indicated on Friday that there were 220 infectious COVID-19 patients in B.C. hospitals, including 73 in intensive care.
Last month, health officials issued new guidelines around who should get tested. Those who are vaccinated, are not considered high risk and people with mild symptoms were told that instead of heading to a testing centre, they should just assume they have the disease and self-isolate.
