'This is the weekend to stay home,' health officials say, as B.C. records 469 new cases of COVID-19

B.C. health officials announced 469 new cases of COVID-19 and six more deaths on Wednesday.

In a written statement,Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix put the number of hospitalized patients at 230 people, the lowest total since Nov. 20. A total of 66 of those patients are currently in intensive care.

Henry and Dix once again urged everyone to stick to their local communities this Family Day Long weekend.

"This weekend is the weekend to stay home to show your family and friends you care by not giving COVID-19 the opportunity to spread," they said.

"The risks from COVID-19 remain high for all of us, especially with the variants of concern, which is why staying in our local community and avoiding any unnecessary travel is so important right now."

A total of 1,269 people in B.C. have lost their lives to COVID-19 since the pandemic began, out of 71,856 confirmed cases.

There are currently 4,305active cases of coronavirus in the province, and public health ismonitoring 6,820 people across B.C. who are in self-isolation because of exposure to knownCOVID-19 cases. More than 66,167 people who tested positive have recovered.

There has been one new outbreakin a health-care facility at Carrington Place Retirement Residence in Vernon.

So far, 157,797doses ofCOVID-19 vaccine have been administered, including14,316 second doses.

Meanwhile, Vancouver Coastal Health says the spread of COVID-19 has started slowing in Whistler after a surge in cases in recent weeks. A total of 547 cases of the disease were recorded between Jan. 1 and Feb. 2.

On the research front, scientists are investigating how the immune systems of residents and elderly staff in Canadian long-term care facilities respond to COVID-19 infection now that they have been vaccinated.