B.C. health officials are reporting another new single day record for COVID-19 cases with 274 new cases, eclipsing yesterday’s record of 203 cases.

Twelve of those new cases were across the Interior Health Authority, while Fraser Health reported 203 cases today. Vancouver Coastal reported another 45 new cases of the virus.

There were no new deaths reported today, with 4,425 people being actively monitored after an exposure to COVID-19. Active cases are now up to 1,920 – just 67 shy of the previous record 1,987 cases set in September – with 71 people in hospital, 24 of whom are in ICU.

Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry says there are now five positive cases linked to staff and students at Ecole L’Anse-au-Sable in Kelowna up from three yesterday, with about 160 people isolating because of this outbreak.

“While it is obviously not what any of us want to see, it is not unexpected as we know that COVID-19 is still circulating in our communities, and we know that is reflected in our school communities as well,” she said.

Henry also says much of the recent rise in cases is linked to ‘high risk’ social events like weddings and funerals, with a small percentage of cases linked to large Thanksgiving gatherings. Many of these events happened in the Lower Mainland, but their effects are being felt across B.C. as people returned back to their communities.

“The intent may have been to have small distanced groups and numbers under 50 but sometimes that doesn’t happen, or people change their plans as the evening progresses,” she said. “It’s time to reset, to make sure that we’re keeping our groups small. It’s time to pull back on the social side of our lives.”

“The risk is too high for all of us. We’ve seen that in other jurisdictions, that this virus can get out of control quickly. If there is a major source of infection, additional measures can and will be put in place.”

Henry also says there will be increased inspections of safety plans in workplaces noting there has been transmission of the virus in lunch rooms, carpools, and during workplace social interactions.

“People are not sticking with their COVID-19 safety plans for social gatherings, particularly ones like weddings and funerals,” Henry added. “We may have the best intentions to keep them small. It is hard, and right now it is not working.”

She also noted that it is critical that people avoid inviting guests to social gatherings beyond their immediate family or ‘safe six’ bubble, and is asking people to decline such invites if they get them.

“We have to pull back on the social aspects of our lives,” Henry noted. “Everyone needs to make their own judgement on this, but six is the number. All the options are available to us and changing (public health) orders is one them [because] celebrations are high risk.”

The number of people considered to have recovered has increased to 10,114 people, about 82 per cent of the total caseload.