Newly detected COVID-19 infections fell for the fourth consecutive day on November 17, to 324 – the lowest daily count since August 9.
Daily counts for new COVID-19 infections in each of the past two days were the lowest since November 1, when there were 332 known cases. Between August 9 and November 1 case counts soared as high as 876, on September 25.
The decline gives hope that the province's fourth wave in the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to decline, in part thanks to the vast majority of British Columbians being fully vaccinated.
Government data show 4,206,179, or 90.7% of eligible British Columbians older than 12 years, have had at least one jab of vaccine, and 4,027,146, or 86.9 of eligible British Columbians, have had two vaccine doses.
The decline in new cases has also helped reduce the number of active infections across the province.
The 3,380 British Columbians now battling active infections is the lowest count since August 10, when there were 3,284 people actively battling COVID-19.
The number of those hospitalized with the disease rose by three overnight, to 379, with 109 of those people in intensive care units (ICUs) – two more than yesterday.
The B.C. government has tried to reduce COVID-19 transmission in hospitals by requiring all staff in health-care facilities to be vaccinated in order to continue to collect pay cheques, and not go on unpaid leaves.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said yesterday 2%, or 3,071 health-care workers across B.C. are unvaccinated and on unpaid leaves.
Seven more people in B.C. lost their lives overnight to the disease that has spawned a global pandemic. That raises the province's pandemic death toll to 2,281.
Of the 213,682 people known to have contacted COVID-19 in B.C., the province considers 207,779 to have recovered because, in most cases, they have gone 10 days after first feeling symptoms and are therefore not thought to be infectious.
The relatively small number of unvaccinated people continue to be the ones hardest hit by the pandemic.
Between November 9 and November 15, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 60.8% of cases, and between November 2 and November 15, those individuals accounted for 71.9% of hospitalizations, according to government data.
Older people also endure more serious bouts of COVID-19, which is why the government has required those who work in seniors' homes to be fully vaccinated. Nonetheless, B.C. has 22 active outbreaks at health-care facilities and seniors' homes.
That number declined by one overnight thanks to the outbreak at Bulkley Valley District Hospital declared over.
The 324 new cases include:
• 108 in Fraser Health;
• 60 in Vancouver Coastal Health;
• 50 in Interior Health;
• 73 in Northern Health; and
• 33 in Island Health.
The 3,380 active cases include:
• 1,221 in Fraser Health;
• 492 in Vancouver Coastal Health;
• 622 in Interior Health;
• 507 in Northern Health;
• 479 in Island Health; and
• 59 people who normally reside outside B.C. •
