As rolling average increases, B.C. officials announce hundreds more cases of COVID-19

Vancouver -

The day after both case-count and death-rate averages rose in B.C., the province's health ministry announced hundreds more cases of COVID-19.

Thursday's update, issued by written statement, included 715 cases recorded in a 24-hour period. Another four people died during that same time.

The latest updates bring the seven-day rolling average to 641 cases per day, up from 621.

Additionally, B.C. has now seen a total since the start of the pandemic of 200,249 cases, which means nearly one in 25 residents of the province have been diagnosed with the disease.

Of those, 192,819 have recovered.

There are currently 4,965 cases considered active, with 377 patients in hospital. About half of those patients (136) are being treated in intensive care units.

Of the latest cases, Fraser Health confirmed the most, with 285 confirmed in the last day. Another 172 were recorded in Northern Health, the region which is currently seeing the highest per-capita rate of cases of the five B.C. health authorities.

All four deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the period examined in this latest update were in the north.

A total of 2,096 people have lost their lives to the novel coronavirus so far in the pandemic in B.C. The seven-day average for daily deaths has dipped to 7.7, down from 8.43 on Wednesday.

Also noted in the provincial release were 60 cases in Vancouver Coastal Health, 61 in Island Health, and 137 in the Interior.

With two new outbreaks in the province, there are now 26 in health-care facilities in B.C.

As has been the case for some time, the majority of new cases and hospitalizations are people who are not considered fully vaccinated. This category includes those who've had no shots or just the first one, as well as those who've very recently been given their second dose.

Looking at the past week of cases and adjusting for age, there have been 308.7 cases per 100,000 population in people who aren't vaccinated at all, compared to 95.6 who are partially vaccinated, and 34.5 fully vaccinated.

In a message posted to social media following the release of the latest data, Health Minister Adrian Dix wrote that 86 per cent of people in critical care due to COVID are not fully vaccinated.

In a breakdown by age, it appeared all people in critical care under the age of 40 were not vaccinated at all.

Looking at all ages, 114 were not vaccinated, compared to three partially vaccinated and 19 with both shots.

The vast majority of eligible British Columbians have had both shots, according to the ministry. As of Thursday, 83.8 per cent of people aged 12 and older had both doses, and 89.4 per cent had at least their first shot.