British Columbia has reported 536 new cases of COVID-19 across the province in the last 24 hours with 7 additional deaths in that span.
Of the 536 new cases, 21 are linked to the Island Health region.
There are currently 4,624 active cases in British Columbia, while 7,303 residents remain under active public health monitoring.
Dr. Bonnie Henry says that 362 are in hospital – an increase of two since Jan. 13 – with 74 people in critical care as a result of the virus (a decrease of two since Jan. 13)
On Thursday, there were 7 additional deaths related to the virus.
“As always we think about those families, the caregivers and the communities that mourn the loss of seven more of our seniors and elders,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry during a live press conference on Thursday.
This brings the provincial death total over the course of the pandemic to 1,038.
Since Wednesday’s numbers, there have been 102 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 253 in the Fraser Health region, 21 in the Island Health region, 115 in the Interior Health region, 45 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.
As of Thursday, the total number of cases in British Columbia over the course of the pandemic has been 59,608.
Dr. Henry notes that there have been two new health care facility outbreaks on Thursday, one at Brocklehurst Gemstone Care Centre in Kamloops and the other at Maple Ridge Seniors Village.
Also as of Thursday, two outbreaks have been declared over – one of those outbreaks was at the Ts’i’ts’uwatul’ Lelum assisted living facility in Duncan where only one positive case was detected over the course of the outbreak.
There are now 52 active outbreaks in long-term care and assisted living and twelve in acute care facilities.
Dr. Henry also said that 69,746 people have received a COVID-19 vaccine in B.C.
“As our supply increases and the immunization program expands, this process will become more complex and more challenging for all of us,” said Dr. Henry. In order to assist with this, the province has selected Dr. Penny Balem from Vancouver Coastal Health to be the executive lead of the Immunize BC task force to help guide the expansion process.
Dr. Henry adds that details are in the works regarding a vaccination timeline for the general public and they should be announced next week. This information is dependent on when B.C. can expect to see an additional supply of COVID-19 vaccines, says the provincial health officer.
Island Health
According to the latest data provided by Island Health, there are currently 189 active cases on Vancouver Island.
Of the new cases, 38 southern Vancouver Island, 124 on central Vancouver Island and 27 on northern Vancouver Island.
Southern Vancouver Island includes the Greater Victoria region, Southern Gulf Islands and the Port Renfrew area.
Central Vancouver Island includes the Cowichan Valley, Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Port Alberni and Tofino areas.
Northern Vancouver Island goes from the Comox Valley to Port Hardy but also includes surrounding areas like Alert Bay and Sointula.
Over the course of the pandemic, the Island Health region has reported 1,198 cases.
Island Health COVID-19 cases for Jan. 14
COVID-19 Variants
During Thursday’s press conference, Dr. Henry said that there are now four cases of the U.K. variant that have been reported in British Columbia. Three of those cases are linked to one specific traveller, while the other case was reported in an additional traveller.
Experts say there have been no additional contacts with any of these cases and Dr. Henry believes this variant hasn’t spread at this time.
She also noted that the first case of the South African variant has been detected in the province.
Dr. Henry says this individual is not known to have travelled or been in contact with anyone who has travelled recently. B.C. health experts are currently investigating further into this case.
“It is of course concerning that we don’t know where this case arose, however, at the moment, it does not appear to have spread in the community,” said Dr. Henry.
Both the new U.K. variant case and the South African variant case were detected in residents of the Vancouver Coastal Health region.
More COVID-19 information
If there is a confirmed COVID-19 case in a school, public health contacts affected school community members directly. Regional health authorities also post-school notifications on their websites, providing the date and type of notification (outbreak, cluster or exposure) for impacted schools.
The Island Health school site can be found here.
Island Health’s COVID-19 data breaks down North, Central and South Island case counts and lists the number of days since any new lab-diagnosed cases. You can find the data here along with any public exposures.
According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Medicine, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide is more than 92.8 million. More than 1.98 million deaths have been recorded.
More to come.
Graham Cox
