COVID-19 in B.C.: 1st case update of the week includes 3 days of data

Vancouver -

A summary of the spread of COVID-19 in British Columbia over the weekend includes 10 deaths in 72 hours.

The update, published online by the provincial Health Ministry shortly before 6 p.m., included that four of those people died in the Northern Health Authority.

There were no deaths over the weekend in Interior Health and the remaining four authorities, Vancouver Coastal, Island and Fraser, each saw two deaths during that time period.

The overall death toll has now reached 2,303 in B.C.

Another 1,052 cases of the disease were diagnosed over the weekend, many of which were in the province's most populated area. Fraser Health continues to see the highest number of active cases (now at 1,148).

But when looked at on a per-capita level, Northern Health has been hit the hardest in recent weeks. There are currently 528 people with COVID-19 in that region, 196 of whom were diagnosed over the weekend.

As of Monday's update there are 3,132 people considered active cases, 337 of whom are in hospital and considered contagious. The province does not give daily updates on all hospitalizations due to COVID-19.

Of the contagious patients, 115 are being treated in intensive care.

The latest update brings B.C.'s total caseload since the start of the pandemic to 215,688. According to the ministry, 97.3 per cent have recovered.

Just over 90 per cent of eligible residents have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 87.3 per cent have had both shots.

Given the high immunization rate it is likely unsurprising that many who test positive are at least partially vaccinated, but those who are not – a much smaller portion of the population – still made up more than half of the cases last week, and two-thirds of the hospitalizations over the last two weeks.