COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia | |
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Disease | COVID-19 |
Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
Location | British Columbia, Canada |
First outbreak | Wuhan, Hubei, China |
Index case | Vancouver |
Dates | January 28, 2020 - July 26, 2024 (4 years, 5 months and 4 weeks) |
Confirmed cases | 341,532 (1,790 Epi-Linked)[1] |
Deaths | 2,766[1] |
Fatality rate | 0.81% |
Vaccinations | 1st doses: 4,477,487 (86.42%) 2nd doses: 4,225,154 (81.54%) 3rd+ doses: 2,455,419 |
Government website | |
BC Centre for Disease Control |
The COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia formed part of an ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). On January 28, 2020, British Columbia became the second province to confirm a case of COVID-19 in Canada.[2] The first case of infection involved a patient who had recently returned from Wuhan, Hubei, China.[3] The first case of community transmission in Canada was confirmed in British Columbia on March 5, 2020.[4]
British Columbians took numerous emergency measures in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus, such as social distancing and self-isolation. On March 23, 2020, British Columbian Premier John Horgan announced the details of the province-wide emergency relief plan, which includes income support, tax relief and direct funding in order to mitigate economic effects of the pandemic.[5] The public health emergency was ultimately ended on July 26, 2024, with all remaining public health orders rescinded.[6]