COVID-19 update: B.C. adds 813 cases, 11 deaths

Vancouver -

British Columbia has recorded another 813 cases of COVID-19 and 11 related deaths, the province said Wednesday.

The latest numbers, provided in a written statement from the Ministry of Health, pushed the province's seven-day average for coronavirus cases to 754 per day, the highest it's been since May 4.

B.C.'s seven-day average for deaths also increased to 6.14 per day, the highest its been since Feb. 14.

The number of infectious COVID-19 patients in hospital also increased to 340, up from 316 on Tuesday, with 146 of them in intensive care.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced this week that the government will start routinely publicizing the number of patients who remain in hospital, but are excluded from the COVID-19 totals because they are no longer infectious – though that number will only be published once per week.

Health Minister Adrian Dix tweeted numbers showing that 83 per cent of ICU patients are unvaccinated, including all 18 of them who are under the age of 40.

Between Sept. 14 and 27, 438 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 across the province, and about 73 per cent were unvaccinated.

"After factoring for age, people not vaccinated are 24.6 times more likely to be hospitalized than those fully vaccinated," the Ministry of Health said in its statement.

Earlier this week, Henry imposed new regional COVID-19 restrictions for the eastern Fraser Valley – including Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission, Hope and Agassiz – in an attempt to curb transmission in the region.

She noted the recent spike in cases among school-aged children in the province has largely taken place in areas of lower-vaccination rates, including parts of the Fraser Health, Northern Health and Interior Health regions.

Northern Health and Interior Health already have already been under regional COVID-19 rules for months, but are still recording the highest rates of transmission per capita.

Over the last day, Northern Health recorded 41.5 cases per 100,000 population, compared to 25.1 in Interior Health, 15.9 in Fraser Health, 9.5 in Island Health and 8.5 in Vancouver Coastal Health.

Across the province, 87.9 per cent of eligible residents age 12 and up have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 80.8 per cent have received both.

But there are pockets in Interior Health and Northern Health where the vaccination rate remains much lower. Only 61 per cent of eligible residents living in the Enderby local health area are fully vaccinated, and that number falls to 51 per cent in Peace River South.

The Ministry of Health also announced two new health-care facility outbreaks Wednesday, at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops and the University Hospital of Northern B.C. in Prince George.

Two others at Hilliside Village and Village at Mill Creek were declared over, leaving 22 active outbreaks across B.C.'s health-care system.