B.C. continues to flatten the curve of COVID-19 hospitalizations as only 82 people are hospitalized with the virus that has caused the global pandemic, provincial officials announced April 30. The number of people in intensive care units with the virus, now at 30, also continues to decrease.
Each of the first six days of April had at least 140 COVID-19 patients in hospital, and the number of patients in intensive care were in the high 60s each day, with as many as 72 on April 6. The 30 people now in intensive care is about one-third less than a week ago.
The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 by health region are:
• 29 in Vancouver Coastal Health;
• 41 in Fraser Health;
• 5 in Island Health;
• 4 in Interior Health; and
• 3 in Northern Health.
"There are 4,100 available hospital beds in B.C.," said Health Minister Adrian Dix. "Our current level of utilization in the system is 63.2%. Of critical care units that have been set up in response to COVID-19, or established already, we have a 44.6% level of occupancy."
Province-wide there were 25 cases of COVID-19 identified in the past 24 hours, for a total of 2,112 cases. Nearly 62.5% of those patients, or 1,322 people, have recovered.
Two people have died with the disease in the past 24 hours and a total of 111 people who have died of the virus since it arrived in January. One of the deaths was a senior while the other person was identified as a person in hospital in the Vancouver Coastal Health region. Proportionally, B.C. had far fewer deaths than in the rest of Canada. Canada-wide, in the past 24 hours, there were 188 deaths, including 98 in Quebec and 86 in Ontario. So close to 98% of all Canadian deaths in that time frame were in those two provinces.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases by B.C. health region are:
• 815 in Vancouver Coastal Health;
• 961 in Fraser Health;
• 120 in Island Health;
• 170 in Interior Health; and
• 46 in Northern Health.
There remain 24 seniors' care homes that have active outbreaks and a total of 36 seniors' care homes that have had outbreaks since January. For more on what those homes are, click here for yesterday's story.
The largest current outbreaks are at poultry-processing facilities and the federal medium-security Mission Institution.
There are 50 cases at Coquitlam's Superior Poultry and 42 cases at East Vancouver's United Poultry.
At the MIssion Institution, 120 inmates have been infected, including an additional 12 inmates infected in the past 24 hours, according to provincial health officer Bonnie Henry at an April 30 press conference. There are also 12 workers who have also tested positive for the virus.
