B.C. Health officials have reported an additional 28 cases of a COVID-19 variant of concern over the weekend, as the province has totalled 1o3, including two cases that are under investigation.

Northern Health remains without variant cases, however, there are now three in the Interior.

Elsewhere in BC, 58 are in Fraser Health, 38 are in Vancouver Coastal Health and four are in Island Heath.

This includes 81 B.1.1.7 (UK), 20 B.1.31 (South Africa) and two B.1.525 (Nigeria) variants, the latter of which is under investigation.

Four are active, 97 have recovered.

“It is important to know that while these COVID-19 variants of concern have shown to transmit more easily, the measures we take to stop the spread are exactly the same as what we have been doing since the start of the pandemic. This is the case whether at work, at school or at home,” said health officials in a statement.

“As community transmission continues, we all need to continue to use all of the layers of protection, to continue to keep to our households only, and to avoid travel unless it is absolutely necessary.”

Over the weekend, BC saw 1,428 new cases of COVID-19, including 99 in Northern Health.

There are now 77,263 cases in British Columbia, and 4351 in the north.

8 people have died over the weekend, including two Northern Health residents.

104 of B.C.’s 1335 deaths have been reported in the northern region.

4560 cases are active in the province, an increase of 73 since Friday.

299 cases are active in Northern Health, up seven.

Of the active cases, 223 people are in hospital and 66 are in ICU.

“No matter what the variant, COVID-19 can spread before someone has any symptoms of illness. This is what makes breaking the chain of transmission difficult and what makes our individual actions all the more important,” continues the statement.

“We are all susceptible to contracting the virus and passing it onto others, so each day that we recommit to taking the necessary precautions helps to protect us and gets us closer to where we want to be.”

Meanwhile, 7768 people are in isolation, and 92.3 per cent of cases have recovered.

Breakdown by day

Feb. 19 to 20: +504

Feb. 20 to 21: +475

Feb 21 to 22: +449

There have been 218,726 doses of vaccine given out, including just over 55,000 second doses.

Two new healthcare outbreaks have been reported at Vancouver General Hospital and Kelowna General Hospital, and four have been declared over.

There is also a community outbreak in Grand River Foods.

Breakdown:

Vancouver: 17,845 (+348)

Fraser: 45,553 (+805)

Vancouver Island: 2,169 (+101)

Interior: 7,198 (+67)

Northern: 4,351 (+99)

Residents of other countries: 152