British Columbia has recorded another 424 cases of COVID-19 and three related deaths, the government announced Thursday as hospitalizations dipped below 300 for the first time in months.
The latest numbers, released in a written statement from the Ministry of Health, pushed the province's seven-day average for coronavirus infections down to 374 per day.
That average has been trending downward for weeks, something officials credit to widespread vaccinations and ongoing public health measures.
The seven-day average for COVID-19 fatalities also decreased to 3.71 per day, marking the first time it's dropped below four since Sept. 14.
Meanwhile, the number of infectious coronavirus patients in hospital fell to 295 – the lowest it's been since Sept. 19 – with 112 of them in intensive care.
About 62 per cent of the people hospitalized due to COVID-19 over the past two weeks have been unvaccinated, officials said, despite that group making up less than 19 per cent of the provincial population.
So far, 91 per cent of B.C. residents age 12 and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 87.5 per cent have received two.
- with files from CTV -