B.C.'s death toll from COVID-19 has started to accelerate, in part thanks to serious infections yesterday being the highest in five months.
Another 13 people lost their lives to the disease in the past 24 hours, according to government data. That is the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in a single day since February 3, when 16 such deaths were identified.
Higher numbers of deaths have been announced in government data updates since February 3, but those totals were always on Mondays, and included multiple days' death tolls.
In total, 2,055 British Columbians have so far passed away while infected with COVID-19. Of the 13 new fatalities, 11 were in the Fraser Health region, while two were in Interior Health region.
The number of those fighting COVID-19 in B.C. hospitals dropped by 11 overnight, to 367, with 152 of those in intensive care units – one fewer than yesterday.
New infections continue apace.
Health officials detected new infections in 667 individuals, with that being the most new cases in a week. There are now 5,128 people fighting active infections.
In total, 196,433 British Columbians have contracted the disease since the first case was detected in the province in January, 2020.
Of those, more than 96.1%, or 188,851 people, are deemed by the province to have recovered because they have gone more than 10 days after first feeling symptoms, and are therefore considered to be not infectious.
Unvaccinated people continue to be largely responsible for much of the disease's spread.
Today's statistics that back that up include that between October 7 and October 13, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 68.3% of new cases. Between September 30 and October 13, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 76.3% of hospitalizations.
These statistics underscore that the vast majority of those getting infected and sick are not fully vaccinated. This is happening while the vast majority of the population in B.C. is fully vaccinated.
Across B.C., 89% of eligible adults older than 12 have had at least one dose of vaccine, with 83% of those eligible people having had two doses, according to the B.C. government.
Of the 4,126,668 B.C. residents who have received one dose of vaccine since mid-December, 2020, nearly 93.3%, or 3,848,689, are fully vaccinated, with two doses.
The B.C. government estimated in July that the province's total population is 5,147,712, so Glacier Media's calculation is that nearly 80.2% of B.C.'s total population has had at least one dose of vaccine, and 74.8% of the province's total population has had two doses.
One new health-care facility outbreak is at GR Baker Memorial Hospital in Quesnel. The outbreak at Good Samaritan Delta View Care Centre in Delta has been declared over. That keeps B.C.'s count of outbreaks in hospitals and seniors' living facilities and care homes at 19.
On a per-capita basis, Northern Health is by far the hardest hit part of the province. The sparsely populated region has even more active cases than Vancouver Coastal Health. Things are so bad in Northern Health that special restrictions were put in place earlier today in the eastern part of the health region.
Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Bonnie Henry have chalked this up to the Northern Health region having a below-average proportion of the population that is vaccinated. In some parts of the region, the vaccination rate is as low as 55%.
Glacier Media's broke down the 667 new infections by health region, for each 10,000 residents (with total new cases in brackets):
• 1.4 in Fraser Health (246);
• 0.6 in Vancouver Coastal Health (75);
• 1.4 in Interior Health (101);
• 6.1 in Northern Health (184); and
• 0.7 in Island Health (59).
There were two known new infections in people who normally do not reside in B.C.
The result by health region, for the 5,128 people fighting active infections, for each 10,000 residents (with total new cases in brackets) is:
• 12.3 in Fraser Health (2,221);
• 5.8 in Vancouver Coastal Health (724);
• 11 in Interior Health (817);
• 24.5 in Northern Health (734); and
• 6.7 in Island Health (572).
There are 60 active infections in the province in people who normally reside outside B.C. •
