Island Health reported 566 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and declared outbreaks at five long-term care homes.
A total of 21 staff and 11 residents at facilities in Victoria and Nanaimo are affected by the outbreaks.
At Aberdeen Hospital in Victoria, two staff and three residents are infected. Only the Lansdowne Unit of the Island Health-run facility is affected.
Seven staff and five residents at Glenwarren Lodge in Victoria are infected. The outbreak involves only the first floor of the Revera facility.
At Victoria's Selkirk Seniors Village, six staff and one resident are infected. The outbreak is on the third floor of the facility, which is run by West Coast Seniors Housing Management
Nanaimo's Kiwanis Village Lodge has three staff and one resident are infected. Only the first floor of the facility, owned and operated by Nanaimo District Senior Citizens Housing Development Society, is affected.
Eden Gardens in Nanaimo has three staff and one resident infected. The outbreak involves the second-floor Cypress Unit of the facility, owned and operated by the Nanaimo Travellers Lodge Society.
In response to the outbreaks, Island Health said there would be no admissions or transfers to affected units, limited staff movement, no communal dining or group activities for residents of affected units, enhanced cleaning and infection control, and enhanced screening of all staff and residents for symptoms.
Essential visitors to long-term care are permitted during an outbreak, Island Health said.
A total of 21 long-term care, health-care or seniors living facilities in B.C. have ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks.
The province reported 3,798 new cases of COVID-19, including 566 in the Island Health region, which now has 3,631 active cases.
Of the 29,967 known active cases of COVID-19 in the province, 317 people are in hospital and 83 are in intensive care. That compares with 298 people in hospital and 86 in intensive care on Tuesday.
No new COVID-19 deaths were reported.
The Fraser Health authority has the most new (1,739) and active (13,920) cases.
Just over 88 per cent of eligible people five and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 83 per cent have had a second shot and 21.5 per cent have received a booster.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday that private companies, schools and health-care sites must all prepare for a wave of illness by reinforcing safety protocols like physical distancing to protect as many people as possible.
She said the next few weeks will be challenging as the province's testing capacity is limited by the rapid spread of Omicron.
For more information about COVID-19, go to islandhealth.ca/covid19.
— With a file from The Canadian Press
