Five people in British Columbia died of COVID-19 over the weekend and a previously unreported death was added to the virus's death toll Monday.
The revelation marks an especially deadly weekend for the province, where the death toll now stands at 183 people.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said 31 new cases of coronavirus have been discovered since Friday, putting the total infections in B.C. since the pandemic began at 2,978 cases.
Four of the deaths announced Monday occurred in Vancouver-area long-term care facilities, while the other two deaths were recorded in long-term care centres in the Fraser Health area. One of the deaths in the Fraser region happened at the Langley Lodge centre in June but was only now attributed to COVID-19, Henry said.
"To lose six people, all in long-term care, over the past three days is a source of enormous grief for the families involved, for the care-givers involved, for the communities involved and we share that sense of loss," B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said.
The health minister said the well-being of residents in long-term care continues to be a serious concern for health officials.
There are currently four active outbreaks of COVID-19 in care centres, affecting a total of 393 residents and 246 staff since the pandemic began.
Most of B.C.'s cases of coronavirus have been found in the Lower Mainland, with 1,570 cases recorded in the Fraser Health region and 1,008 cases discovered in the Vancouver Coastal Health region since the pandemic began.
Elsewhere in the province, the Island Health region has confirmed 132 cases, the Interior Health region has recorded 203 cases, and the Northern Health region has reported 65.
There remain 166 active cases of coronavirus in B.C. Sixteen people are in hospital with the virus, including four in critical or intensive care.
A total of 2,629 people in B.C. have fully recovered from COVID-19.
-With files from CTV -