B.C. adds 593 cases of COVID-19, no deaths as new vaccine requirement announced

Vancouver -

British Columbia has recorded another 593 cases of COVID-19 but no related deaths, the government said Tuesday after officials announced a new vaccine requirement for visitors in health-care settings.

The latest numbers, provided in a written statement from the Ministry of Health, put the province's seven-day average for new infections at 694 per day, down from 702 on Monday.

The seven-day average for coronavirus-related deaths, which hit a seven-month high of 7.29 last week, dropped to 5.86 per day. The last time B.C. went 24 hours without a COVID-19 fatality was several weeks ago, on Sept. 8.

The number of infectious coronavirus patients in hospital increased to 345, up from 326 on Monday, with 144 of those in intensive care. The province only updates the number of people who remain hospitalized due to COVID-19 but are no longer infectious once per week.

The unvaccinated continue to make up the majority of B.C.'s case and hospitalization numbers, according to the ministry, despite representing a relatively small and shrinking percentage of the population.

Between Sept. 27 and Oct. 3, people who haven't received a single dose of vaccine were infected at a rate of 297.3 per 100,000 population after adjusting for age, compared to 35.1 per 100,000 population among the fully vaccinated.

Similarly, between Sept. 20 and Oct. 3, the unvaccinated were hospitalized at a rate of 36.7 per 100,000 population after adjusting for age, compared to 1.7 per 100,000 population among the fully vaccinated.

So far, 88.3 per cent of eligible residents age 12 and older have received at least one dose of vaccination, and 81.7 per cent have received both.

Earlier in the day, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced that visitors in health-care settings across B.C. will soon need to provide proof of vaccination. The requirement is first being implemented in long-term care homes and assisted living facilities on Oct. 12, then expanding to all acute care and community care settings on Oct. 26.

There are currently 19 active outbreaks in health-care facilities across the province, including one announced Tuesday at the University Hospital of Northern B.C.

While only 18 per cent of the cases announced Tuesday acme from the Northern Health region, it has been experiencing a far higher rate of infections per capita.

Northern Health recorded 30.6 cases per 100,000 population, compared to 14.9 in Interior Health, 12.4 in Island Health, 10.6 in Fraser Health and 5.7 in Vancouver Coastal Health.