British Columbia health officials have reported 997 new cases of COVID-19 and two deaths since their last update.
The number of confirmed cases in B.C. climbs to 106,985 while the province’s death toll now stands at 1,491.
Of the new cases, 356 were recorded in Vancouver Coastal Health, 465 were in Fraser Health, 67 in Island Health, 91 in Interior Health, and 18 in Northern Health.
There are currently 8,728 active cases in the province, 330 people in hospital — 105 of whom are in intensive care — and 14,602 people under active public health monitoring due to possible exposure to an identified case.
A total of 96,626 people in B.C. have recovered from COVID-19 while 946,096 doses of vaccine have been administered, of which, 87,504 are second doses.
There was no new information provided regarding variant cases because “additional whole-genome sequencing” has not been completed in the past 24 hours, according to provincial health officials.
Today’s numbers were released in a statement to the media.
Island Health
There are currently 585 active coronavirus cases on Vancouver Island — a decrease of 42 cases since yesterday’s update, according to the latest information available on the BCCDC’s dashboard.
Nineteen people are hospitalized with COVID-19 — six of whom are in critical care.
Of the 67 new cases on Vancouver Island, 31 cases were identified in people between 10 and 39 years of age — 14 new cases were identified in those 20-29 — while 27 cases were found in people aged 40-69.
Health officials have said in recent weeks that they are seeing an uptick in cases and hospitalizations among young people, particularly those 20-29.
However, Dr. Richard Stanwick, chief medical health officer with Island Health, told reporters Wednesday that isn’t necessarily the case on Vancouver Island.
“We have some individuals in the younger spectrum but certainly nothing like what’s being witnessed on the Lower Mainland, but as always we have lagged behind the trends that have occurred elsewhere and so this could change,” he said.
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New data released by the BCCDC also shows that between March 28 and April 3 there were a little more than 400 new coronavirus cases identified on Vancouver Island, including 145 in Greater Victoria.
Western Communities, which includes Langford and Sooke, saw 53 new cases during that time period while the Saanich Penninsula recorded just 12 cases.
Dr. Stanwick said the growth in South Island cases is likely due to several reasons including a significant number of cases linked to CFB Esquimalt, spring break travel, and social connections.
“We gave the virus the opportunity to spread by engaging in social interactions and probably not observing all of the precautions Dr. Henry has been asking of us we’re definitely seeing evidence of covid fatigue,” he said.
Elsewhere on the Island, there 74 new cases in the Nanaimo region, 58 new cases in the Oceanside area, 17 in Port Alberni region and 14 in Cowichan Valley.
Meanwhile, Island Health reported 486 active cases on Vancouver Island in its latest dashboard update.
Of those active cases, 261 are in the South Island, 194 are in Central Island, and 31 are in the North 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.
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.”
Since the onset of the pandemic, there have been 3,169 cases identified and 3,749 recoveries in the Island Health region.
Nicholas Pescod
April Lawrence
