B.C. reports 9 COVID-19 deaths, new hospitalization record on pandemic anniversary

On the second anniversary of B.C.'s first announced COVID-19 case, the province reported nine more deaths and a new record for test-positive patients in hospital.

The province's pandemic death toll now stands at 2,597, according to a written statement from the Ministry of Health.

The latest update places the number of patients in hospital with COVID-19 at 990 – a new all-time high for B.C. – with 141 of those in intensive care.

The hospitalization total includes both patients whose COVID-19 infections are serious enough to merit hospitalization and those who were hospitalized for some other reason and tested positive incidentally.

Earlier in the day, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry gave a presentation summarizing B.C.'s pandemic response over the last two years, and thanked the public for their co-operation through the five waves that have taken place so far – including the record-shattering Omicron wave, which officials believe has only recently started to subside.

"We've been on an incredibly arduous and long journey – and no, I didn't think we would be on this phase of the journey for this long," she said.

"But we have the tools and the resources and the wherewithal to help us deal with whatever is going to lie ahead."

Officials continue to encourage vaccination as a safe and effective way to decrease the chances of serious illness. So far, 89.8 per cent of eligible British Columbians have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine – including 51 per cent of children ages five to 11 – and 83.8 per cent have had two.

Forty-seven per cent of adults have also had a booster shot.

The Ministry of Health also announced seven more outbreaks in health-care facilities, at Residence at Clayton Heights, Cottonwoods Care Centre, Nanaimo Regional Hospital, Woodgrove Manor, Amica on the Gorge, The Gardens at Qualicum Beach, and Cowichan District Hospital.

Another 10 were declared over, leaving 58 active outbreaks across the health-care system, most at long-term care homes.

The province's seven-day average for deaths has increased dramatically this month, reaching 10 per day this week. Henry confirmed Friday that outbreaks in long-term care account for about 40 per cent of the COVID-19 deaths B.C. has recorded so far in 2021.

"Most of the people who are dying outside of those outbreaks are older people with underlying illnesses," she added. "A high proportion of them are people who don't have the protection from vaccination."

Another 2,137 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were announced Friday as well, though daily infection numbers have carried less weight since officials started discouraging most healthy people from getting tested.