B.C. adds 706 cases, 4 deaths in latest COVID-19 update
B.C.'s Ministry of Health announced 706 additional cases of COVID-19 and four related deaths on Thursday.
There have now been 177,186 confirmed cases and 1,877 deaths since the pandemic began.
Most new infections continue to be found in people who are not yet fully vaccinated. Between Sept. 8 and 14, 68.1 per cent of the 3,347 new coronavirus cases were among unvaccinated people, according to the ministry.
This is despite the fact that those who are unvaccinated - including children under age 12 who are not eligible - make up only about a quarter of the province's total population.
Among those who are eligible, 86.3 per cent had received at least a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Thursday, and 78.8 per cent had received both shots.
Thursday's update brings B.C.'s rolling seven-day average for new cases back below 700 for the first time since last week. The average stands at 693, down from 702 on Wednesday.
There are 5,844 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, a total that includes 291 people who are fighting the disease in hospital. Among the hospitalized, 134 are in intensive care.
Of the 390 coronavirus-related hospitalizations B.C. saw between Sept. 1 and 14, 81.5 per cent were people who are unvaccinated. Only 13.6 were fully vaccinated. The remaining 4.9 per cent were partially vaccinated, a number that likely reflects their small proportion of the population relative to the fully vaccinated and unvaccinated groups.
On Twitter, Health Minister Adrian Dix shared a breakdown of the vaccination status of people who are in intensive care, saying 93 per cent are not fully vaccinated.
Most of the new cases reported Thursday were in the Fraser Health and Interior Health regions, which saw 203 and 213 infections, respectively.
Elsewhere, Vancouver Coastal Health added 105 new cases on Thursday, Northern Health added 104, and Island Health added 81.
For context, though Fraser Health and Interior Health have seen similar numbers of new cases in recent weeks, Fraser Health has more than twice as many residents as Interior Health, meaning it has seen significantly fewer cases on a per-capita basis.
Similarly, though Vancouver Coastal Health and Northern Health saw similar raw numbers of cases on Thursday, the former has nearly 1.2 million residents, compared to the latter's 284,000.
Three of the four deaths announced Thursday were in Fraser Health, while the fourth was in Northern Health.
The health ministry also announced one new outbreak at Menno Terrace East, an assisted-living facility in Abbotsford. Fraser Health said Wednesday that two residents there had tested positive for COVID-19.
Two other outbreaks - at Nicola Meadows in Merritt and Rose Wood Village in Trail - have ended, leaving B.C. with 23 active outbreaks in its health-care system, according to the ministry.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
BREAKING Manitoba government tables bill to end ban on homegrown recreational cannabis
Manitoba is planning to lift its ban on the home growing of recreational cannabis.
All Alberta wildfires to date in 2024 believed to be human-caused: province
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.