B.C. health officials are reporting a new single day record with 165 COVID-19 cases in a 24 hour period, including two that are epi-linked to known cases. It beats the old record of 139 cases set last Thursday, September 10.

In the Interior, the case count is up to 489, up by four from yesterday for a total of of 23 active cases with one person in hospital.

Across B.C. there are now 1,705 active cases in the province, a new record high as well. Health officials also reported one new death in long term care bringing B.C.’s death toll to 220 people.

There are now 57 people in hospital, of which 22 are in critical care – both those numbers are down slightly from yesterday. A further 2949 people are in self-isolation after exposure to a confirmed case of the virus.

Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry says there have been no outbreaks in schools, but there have been some low risk exposures ‘as expected.’ She says if people are required to self-isolate as a result of an exposure at a school, they will be contacted by public health teams.

She is also asking people to stick the same small group of six people when socializing as the virus continues to spread in social settings.

“They also need to be the same small groups. Spending time with different friends on different days significantly increases our risk,” she said. “Just because you can fit 50 people into your small back garden, doesn’t mean it’s safe, and that’s where we’re seeing transmission.”

Henry adds the cases we’re seeing this week is from exposure events that happened in the last ten days to two weeks, around the Labour Day weekend. Since September 10, there have been 972 cases in the province. Many of the people testing positive are linked to previous cases, and many people are already in isolation because of known exposure events.

“This give and take is not easy; it is what will keep us safe and functioning in the weeks ahead,” Henry added. “This is going to be our most challenging year.”

Health Minister Adrian Dix says there were 7,674 people who were tested yesterday, an all-time high for testing numbers in a single day.

As it stands, a total of 5,719 people – about 75 per cent of the total case load – are considered to have recovered from the virus.