Hundreds more B.C. and Interior residents hit by COVID-19

There are 663 more B.C. residents who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, with 274 of them living in the Interior Health region.

Earlier today, Aug. 20, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that the case counts were levelling off in the Central Okanagan but at too high a level.

At the same time, more cases are breaking out in other parts of the Interior Health region so restrictions imposed on the Central Okanagan on Aug. 6 have been expanded throughout the region.

READ MORE: COVID restrictions expanded throughout Interior Health region

Of the new cases, 162 are in the Fraser Health region, 135 in Vancouver Coastal, 54 on Vancouver Island and 38 in the Northern Health region, according to a Government of B.C. news release issued today, Aug. 20.

Of the 6,345 active cases in B.C., 3,504 are in Interior Health. There are 129 people in hospital with 59 of them in intensive care.

There has been one new death, in Fraser Health, bringing the provincial total to 1,785.

The vaccination rate for those 12 and over has reached 83.8 per cent while 74.3 per cent have received their second doses.

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