BREAKING: 11 new cases of COVID-19 in Interior Health region

There are 11 new cases of COVID-19 within the Interior Health region taking the total number of cases in the region to 41.

There have been 145 new cases in B.C. over the last two days.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in B.C. is now 617. More than 500 of the cases are located in the Lower Mainland.

The announcement was made today, March 24, by Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Minister of Health Adrian Dix.

Since the last announcement yesterday there have been no new COVID-19 related fatalities. Currently, 13 people have died from COVID-19 with 10 of those all being connected to the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver.

Along with the statistics, Henry said two more long-term care homes had recorded cases. Both of the care homes are located in the Lower Mainland.

Henry said 59 people with COVID-19 are currently being treated in hospital and 23 of those are in intensive care.

Dix said the province currently had more than 3,800 hospital beds available to deal with the coronavirus.

Henry said 173 people in the province had recovered from COVID-19.

— This story was updated 4:40 p.m. March 24, 2020, to clarify that 145 new COVID-19 cases were reported over the last two days.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.