Another 2,239 cases of COVID-19 and 18 coronvirus-related deaths were recorded across B.C. over the weekend, officials announced Monday after the government's vaccine card grace period came to an end.
The latest case numbers, provided in a written update from the Ministry of Health, pushed the province's seven-day average for new infections to 728 per day, up from 650 on Friday. The seven-day average for COVID-19 deaths increased to 5.86 per day, the highest it's been since mid-February.
Six of the deceased lived in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, five lived in the Interior Health region, three each lived in the Fraser Health and Island Health regions, and one lived in the Northern Health region.
Fraser Health and Interior Health once again recorded the highest numbers of COVID-19 infections, accounting for 857 and 525 cases, respectively, while Northern Health continued to see the highest rate of transmission per capita.
Northern Health added 125.9 cases per 100,000 residents over the weekend, compared to 63.4 in Interior Health, 44.9 in Fraser Health, 26.8 in Island Health, and 21.4 in Vancouver Coastal Health.
Officials also announced four new COVID-19 outbreaks in health-care facilities, at The Residence in Mission, Hallmark on the Lake in Abbotsford, Magnolia Gardens in Langley, and Cooper Place in Vancouver. Five others were declared over, leaving 21 active outbreaks across B.C.'s health-care system.