British Columbia health officials announced during a live update on Monday that there were 2,960 new cases of COVID-19 and eight deaths from the virus reported province-wide over the weekend.
From Friday to Saturday there were 1,027 cases identified, from Saturday to Sunday there were 933 new cases, and in the past 24 hours there were 1,000 new cases identified.
The number of confirmed cases in B.C. climbs to 120,040 while the province’s death toll now stands at 1,538.
Of the new cases, 696 were recorded in Vancouver Coastal Health, 1,845 were in Fraser Health, 108 in Island Health, 211 in Interior Health, and 100 in Northern Health.
There are currently 9,353 active cases in the province, 441 people in hospital — 138 of whom are in intensive care — and 14,711 people under active public health monitoring due to possible exposure to an identified case.
A total of 108,019 people in B.C. have recovered from COVID-19 while a total of 1,380,160 doses of vaccine have been administered province-wide.
Since the province’s last update on April 16, the active cases has dropped by more than 700 while the number people in hospital has increased by four per cent, with those ICU increasing by nine per cent.
During Monday’s update, Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, announced that one of the deaths was a child under the age of two, who was from the Fraser Health region but was receiving care at B.C. Children’s Hospital.
“Although this child had pre-existing health conditions that complicated that complicated their illness, it was the virus that caused their death … this tragically is the youngest person in our province who has died from COVID-19 and it reminds us of the vicious nature of this virus,” she said.
“This is a true tragedy.”
Based on today’s data, the following has happened in #BC since April 16 (official’s last #COVID19 update):
Active cases decreased by 7%
Hospitalizations increased 4%
People currently in ICU rose 9%— Nicholas M Pescod (@npescod) April 19, 2021
Island Health
There are currently 430 active cases on Vancouver Island, a decrease of 125 cases since the last update on April 16, according to data available on BCCDC’s website.
Over the course of the pandemic, the Island Health region has reported 4,341 cases — including 41 new cases on April 17 and 35 new cases on April 18 — and 33 deaths.
Twenty-nine people are currently hospitalized due to the coronavirus, five of whom are in critical care.
A total of 207 people on Vancouver Island have been hospitalized after becoming infected with COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
Over the past seven days, the number of recorded cases in those 39 and under have increased eight per cent, with the largest increase occurring in those 10 or younger.
Meanwhile, Island Health reported 346 active cases on Vancouver Island in its latest dashboard update.
Of those active cases, 207 are in the South Island, 102 are in Central Island, and 37 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.”
National and global landscape
Canada has recorded 1.13 million coronavirus cases since the onset of the pandemic, according to Health Canada.
A total of 26,016 cases have been identified on First Nations reserves in Canada, of which 682 are active.
When it comes to active cases nationwide, there 88,327 of them, with more than 50,000 in Ontario and Quebec. Alberta has more than 18,000 active cases, while Nunavut, which had recorded no active cases for weeks, now has 28.
Canada’s death toll stands at 23,667.
Globally, there were more than 5.2 million new coronavirus cases reported worldwide during the week of April 12, the most ever recorded, according to the World Health Organization.
In the past 24 hours, India reported a single-day record of 273,810 new cases — 37 per cent of all cases recorded worldwide — followed by Brazil with 67,636 cases, the United States with 61,306 new cases, Turkey with 55,802 new cases and France, which recorded 29,344 cases.
Although the United States continues to report a high number of cases, Canada, over the past seven days, has recovered more new cases per 100,000 than its neighbours to the south.
Source: Health Canada
Source: World Health Organization
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Nicholas Pescod
