COVID-19 infections serious enough to require hospital care keep rising in B.C. even as the number of new infections has been trending lower.
There are now 445 COVID-19 patients in B.C. hospitals, which is more than at any time since May 7, nearly six months ago. Of those, 137 are in intensive care units (ICUs).
The seven-day average for new infections up to yesterday was 539, so today's total of 406 is small in comparison. Yesterday, only 332 new COVID-19 infections were detected province-wide – the lowest number since August 9.
Deaths continue to rack up, with five additional COVID-19 fatalities in the past 24 hours.
The new deaths included one in Interior Health, and four in Northern Health.
The vast majority of the 4,694 people actively battling infections have been told to self-isolate at home.
Of the 206,690 people known to have been infected by COVID-19 in B.C., 199,480, or 96.5% are deemed by the province to have recovered. In most cases, that diagnosis is because the patients have gone more than 10 days after first feeling symptoms, and are therefore considered to be not infectious.
Glacier Media broke down the 406 infections detected in the past day by health region, for each 10,000 residents (with total new cases in brackets).
• 0.7 in Fraser Health (133);
• 0.3 in Vancouver Coastal Health (41);
• 1.3 in Interior Health (95);
• 2.9 in Northern Health (86); and
• 0.6 in Island Health (51).
There were no new infections among people who normally do not reside in Canada.
The result by health region, for the 4,694 people fighting active infections, for each 10,000 residents (with total new cases in brackets) is:
• 12 in Fraser Health (2,157);
• 4.9 in Vancouver Coastal Health (607);
• 8.3 in Interior Health (613);
• 20.2 in Northern Health (606); and
• 7.7 in Island Health (652).
There are 59 active infections among people who normally do not reside in Canada.
Health Minister Adrian Dix tweeted that 117 of the 137 people now in ICUs are unvaccinated, four are partially vaccinated, and the remaining 16 are fully vaccinated. Only two of the 66 people in B.C. hospital ICU wards who are aged younger than 60 years are fully vaccinated, whereas 63 are unvaccinated and one is partially vaccinated.
Those statistics are merely the latest ones that show that it is the unvaccinated population that is propelling the province's fourth wave of the pandemic, and that underscore why it is important to get vaccinated.
Across B.C., 90% of eligible people older than 12 have had at least one dose of vaccine, with 85.4% of eligible people having had two doses, according to the B.C. government.
Of the 4,171,944 B.C. residents who have received one dose of vaccine since mid-December, 2020, 94.9%, or 3,958,398, are considered fully vaccinated, with two doses. Last week, the government said 90,425 British Columbians had received third doses of vaccine. No update to that number was provided today.
Only 1,958 B.C. residents received initial doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in the past day, with that being the lowest number since October 1. Another 4,330 British Columbians received second doses of vaccine in the past day.
Two new health-care facility outbreaks are at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, and Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. That leaves the province with 41 active outbreaks at health-care facilities and seniors' homes. •
