B.C. health officials are reporting another 737 cases of COVID-19 today, along with 11 more deaths.

There were 99 new cases in Interior Health, taking the total to 758 active cases with 20 people in hospital, four in ICU.IHA also said the community cluster in Revelstoke has been contained.

One more staff member at McKinney Place long-term care home in Oliver has tested positive, taking the total to 41 cases – 27 residents and 14 staff. There are still three cases at the Village by the Station long-term care home in Penticton, while the Mountainview Village long-term care home has seven cases.

Active cases provincewide are at 9,589 with 342 people in hospital, 87 in intensive care. There are a further 12,008 people being actively monitored by public health teams after an exposure to the virus, while the death toll meanwhile has climbed to 598 cases.

“COVID-19 continues to circulate in our communities and the risk to all of us remains high,” said a statement from the health ministry. “This is why it is so important to follow the public health orders and to use our layers of protection until the vaccine is available for all of us.”

“This weekend, take a step back from the usual holiday rush. Take the time to get outside and enjoy a quieter weekend with those in your household. Show your loved ones you care by staying local and staying away right now.”

Of the cases reported today, there were 469 in Fraser Health, 119 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 41 in Northern Health, and eight on Vancouver Island. There was another case also identified in someone who lives outside of Canada.

“We want to ensure we are moving into this stage of our COVID-19 response in the best position possible, which means working together to make sure we don’t fall back as we move forward with our immunization program,” added the statement.

There are now are 29,598 people who tested positive for COVID-19 who are now considered to have recovered – about 72 per cent of the total.