What you need to know about COVID-19 in B.C. for Feb. 2

THE LATEST:

• Health officials announced 429 new COVID-19 cases and eight more deaths on Tuesday.
• A total of1,218 people have died of COVID-19 to date.
• There have been 68,366 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in B.C.
• There are now 294peoplein hospital, with 82in intensive care.
• There are4,542active cases of the disease in B.C.
• A total of 140,452doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, including5,097second doses.
• B.C.'s state of emergency has been extended again.
• As of Monday, 18 infections with two new COVID-19 variants of concern have been identified.

The province is starting to see a slight downward trend in the number of new COVID-19 cases reported every day, a promising sign after progress on fighting the disease seemed to stall in recent weeks.

In a written statement on Tuesday, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix described the recent numbers as "an encouraging trend" for B.C.

"Fewer cases is a welcome sign for all of us and makes it all the more important to keep going with the fundamentals of staying local, staying small and staying safe right now. Let's all continue to do our part, knowing that our individual and collective efforts are working," they said.

Tuesday's update included 429 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and eight more deaths.

There arenow 4,542 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C. Of those, 294 are in hospital, including 82 in intensive care.

Thesepromising signs come as B.C. deals with a diminished supply of vaccines and the spread of new, more infectious virus variants.

As of Monday, health officials have identified 14 people who've been infected with the variant first reported in the U.K. and four people who've had the variant first reported in South Africa.

Watch: Dr. Bonnie Henry addresses coronavirus variants of concern

B.C. is stepping up its monitoring of coronavirus variants

4 years ago

Duration 1:43

Dr. Bonnie Henry says the most effective way to stop the spread of highly infectious coronavirus variants is to refrain from gatherings of any size.

Meanwhile, manufacturer supply problems mean that B.C. has very little of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine to start the month, although some more Moderna doses are expected by the end of the week.

As of Tuesday,140,452doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administeredin B.C., including5,097 second doses.

Canadian-made vaccines promised

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesdayannounced a plan to produce millions of COVID-19 vaccinesat a plant in Montreal beginningthis summer, securing a domestic supply of shots as the global market fights with delivery delays from international manufacturers.

The facility will maketens of millions of doses of the Novavax vaccine, Trudeau said. Thecompany submitted its vaccine to Health Canada for regulatory approval last Friday.

"This is a major step forward to get vaccines made in Canada, for Canadians ... we need as much domestic capacity for vaccine production as possible," said Trudeau.

Trudeau also saidadditional vaccines could be produced in Vancouver and Saskatchewan, but there are no deals with other vaccine makers to use those facilities yet.

Precision NanoSystems inVancouver, which got a federal grant of $23 million, can produce 240 million doses.The University of Saskatchewan's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, which received a $46-million funding boost from Ottawa last year, could now produce 40 million doses a year.

READ MORE:

• A Vancouver man has been released on strict bail conditions after being charged with violating public health orders by allegedly hosting dozens of people at a makeshift nightclub in his downtown penthouse.
• Some Metro Vancouver catering companies say they are still fielding calls for events they suspect violate public health gathering orders.
• A number of elected municipal and provincial officials in British Columbia say harsher penalties are needed forCOVID-19 rule breakers.
• Health officials are working to determine if students and staff at a high school in Maple Ridge were exposed to a more transmissible variant of the coronavirus.
• Two cancer patients from Metro Vancouver say they should be exempt from the federal government's quarantine rulesbecause their trips to the U.S. for treatmentare essential.

What's happening elsewhere in Canada

As of 8:30 p.m. Monday,Canada had reported 783,589 cases of COVID-19, with 51,745 cases considered active.

A total of 20,136 people have died.

• Stay informed by joining ourCBC Vancouver Facebook groupon COVID-19
• Help CBC British Columbia tell your COVID-19 stories