B.C. reports 873 additional COVID-19 cases, two deaths

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WatchHealth officials in British Columbia have reported 873 new cases and two deaths from COVID-19 since their last update on Monday.

Health officials in British Columbia have reported 873 new cases and two deaths from COVID-19 since their last update on Monday.

The number of confirmed cases in B.C. climbs to 113,702 while the province’s death toll now stands at 1,515.

Of the new cases, 218 were recorded in Vancouver Coastal Health, 512 were in Fraser Health, 43 in Island Health, 72 in Interior Health, and 28 in Northern Health.

There are currently 9,756 active cases in the province, 377 people in hospital — 116 of whom are in intensive care — and 16,290 people under active public health monitoring due to possible exposure to an identified case.

A total of 102,268 people in B.C. have recovered from COVID-19 while 1,148,993 doses of vaccine have been administered province-wide.

The number of variants of concern in B.C. has reached 5,221 total since variants of concern were first detected and of those, 258 are active cases.

Overall, there have been 3,627 cases of the B.1.1.7. or U.K. variant, 1,529 cases of the P.1. or Brazil variant and 65 cases of the B.1.351 or South Africa variant.

The update comes a day after Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry definitively stated the province is in its “third wave” of COVID-19 infections.

On Monday, Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix announced 3,289 new cases and 18 deaths from COVID-19 over the weekend.

B.C. Premier John Horgan said on Tuesday that because of recent rising case counts, tougher COVID-19 restrictions — including on travel — are not yet “off the table.”

Hospitals prepare for increase in hospitalizations, ICU admissions

Hospitals prepare for increase in hospitalizations, ICU admissions

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Island Health

According to the latest information available on the BCCDC’s dashboard, there are currently 551 active coronavirus cases on Vancouver Island — a decrease of 15 cases since the last update on April 12.

Eighteen people are currently hospitalized due to the coronavirus — four of whom are in critical care. A total of 185 people on Vancouver Island have been hospitalized due to COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

Data on new cases by age group for Island Health was not provided by health officials today. Since Feb. 22, infections identified in those 20-29, have increased nearly 100 per cent and nearly 45 per cent since March 16.

Meanwhile, Island Health reported 467 active cases on Vancouver Island in its latest dashboard update.

Of those active cases, 250 are in the South Island, 190 are in Central Island, and 27 are in the North Island.

Island Health’s data often lags behind the BCCDC’s data due to a “difference in timing of reporting across laboratory and public health data sources.”

Back on March 8, Dr. Henry suggested that in the coming weeks British Columbians could look forward to a “modified return” of some of the activities that have been restricted.

However, since then, cases on Vancouver Island have increased 56 per cent, and more restrictions have been implemented provincewide.

The total number of cases identified on Vancouver Island currently stands at 4,082 cases while 3,488 people have recovered and 33 people have died.

National and global landscape

Canada has recorded 1.07 million coronavirus cases since the onset of the pandemic, according to Health Canada.

A total of 25,688 cases have been identified on First Nations reserves in Canada, with 666 cases still active.

When it comes to active cases nationwide, there 78,293 of them, with nearly 50,000 in Ontario and Quebec.

Canada’s death toll stands at 23,392.

Globally, new coronavirus cases reported worldwide increased for the seventh straight week in a row, according to the World Health Organization.

In the past 24 hours, India recorded 161,736 new cases — its highest single-day tally — followed by Turkey with 54,562 new cases and the United States with 48,354 cases.

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Jeff LawrenceJeff Lawrence
Nicholas PescodNicholas Pescod

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