32 more deaths attributed to COVID-19 in B.C. over the weekend: latest update

In the span of 72 hours, another 32 people died of COVID-19 in British Columbia, the Health Ministry said in its latest update.

The update, which includes data from Friday to Monday, brings the total toll since the start of the pandemic to 2,707.

Of the most recent deaths, 23 people lived in B.C.'s Lower Mainland (nine in Fraser Health and 14 in Vancouver Coastal).

Five lived in the Island Health region, three lived in the Interior, and the remaining one was a resident of B.C.'s north.

The ministry does not include details on their vaccination status, nor does it say whether those who died were living at home, in health-care facilities or in other settlings.

Last month, officials said outbreaks in long-term care accounted for about 40 per cent of the total deaths.

The criteria around the classification of an outbreak is cause for confusion in the province, but as of Monday, the health minister said 52 long-term care facilities in B.C. were dealing with outbreaks.

Eleven of those with active outbreaks were added over the weekend. Those homes are: Good Samaritan Delta View Care Centre, Pondarosa, Castleview Care Centre, Overlander Residential Care, Spring Valley Care Centre, Village by the Station, Sunridge Place, Island View Place, Nanaimo Seniors Village, Sluggett House and Glacier View Lodge.

Also in health-care facilities are 987 patients who've been confirmed to have COVID-19 in hospital, though the province does not provide daily updates on how many of these people were hospitalized because of the disease, and how many tested positive after hospitalization for another reason.

The total is high but not a record for B.C. Of those, 141 are in intensive-care units.

And the ministry provided an update, too, on the latest case data, though this is not considered an accurate indicator of the severity of the pandemic as most are no longer being tested.

As of Monday's update, 23,738 known COVID cases are considered active. Over the weekend, 3,287 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Of the latest cases, about 57 per cent were detected in the Fraser and Interior health authorities. Vancouver Coastal, Northern and Island Health all saw between 440 and 499 cases added to their totals.

When it comes to who was testing positive over the last two weeks, people who are not fully vaccinated account for about one-quarter of cases. Looking at hospitalizations, people who had either no doses of the vaccine or just one accounted for 31.9 per cent, the ministry said.

The unvaccinated make up a small portion of the population – the latest data suggests 90.2 per cent of eligible British Columbians aged 5 and up have at least one dose – but account for a disproportionate amount of hospitalizations.

Over the past two weeks, 92.5 unvaccinated people per 100,000 population (after adjusting for age) were in hospital. That's compared to a rate of 18.8 fully-vaccinated patients per 100,000, and 53 partially vaccinated.