COVID-19 update: B.C. reports 1,079 cases, 5 deaths over the weekend as hospitalizations spike

Vancouver -

British Columbia identified 1,079 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend and suffered five more deaths related to the disease, health officials announced Monday.

The weekend's death toll matches the number of coronavirus-related fatalities suffered across the entire province over the previous 14 days combined.

Four of the five deaths were recorded in the Interior Health region, where an alarming spike in transmission has led officials to re-introduce a number of tough COVID-19 restrictions in the Central Okanagan.

And while the government did not provide any other details on the latest victims, such as their ages and immunization status, there has been a recent resurgence of coronavirus outbreaks in the province's long-term care homes – including at several under Interior Health's jurisdiction.

Earlier on Monday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry addressed breakthrough cases of the extremely contagious Delta variant in long-term care facilities, which have generally high vaccination rates among residents.

"What we have seen with the Delta variant is that once it gets in a high-risk setting like a long-term care home, it can spread very rapidly," Henry said. "The risk is that it is being brought into long-term care homes by people who are unimmunized."

Officials have always acknowledged that vaccines are not 100 per cent effective in preventing infection, and Henry said immunization still dramatically reduces the risk of severe outcomes after catching COVID-19, even in vulnerable populations such as care home residents.

The remaining risk has not convinced officials to mandate vaccination for employees in long-term care facilities, despite growing calls for them to do so, including from B.C.'s seniors advocate.

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the province also rose sharply in Monday's update, which came in the form of a written statement from the Ministry of Health. There are now 68 coronavirus patients in hospital, a jump of about 28 per cent from Friday, though the number of patient in intensive care dropped to 20 from 24.

B.C.'s active case count surged to 3,036, an increase of about 600 from last week. The last time that figure topped 3,000 was more than two months ago.

The latest infections also pushed the province's seven-day average for new infections to 355 cases per day, the highest that number's been in months as well.

Once again, the majority of new cases – 587 of the 1,079 – came from the Interior Health region.

It's been two weeks since officials imposed another mask mandate in the Central Okanagan, where most of the recent transmission has been occurring, but there has yet to be a decline in cases.

Henry said there has been a "levelling" of infection numbers, however, and noted the more strict measures implemented last week, such as the closure of bars and nightclubs, should be having an effect soon.

"We hope to see the impact of that in the next week," she said.

Officials have said 95 per cent of recent cases have involved people who are unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated, many of them young people who have only had the opportunity for one shot.

On Monday, officials announced they were decreasing the minimum interval between vaccine doses to four weeks, down from seven, in order to get more people protected as quickly as possible as the Delta variant spreads.

“I am strongly recommending that people living in areas with outbreaks book their vaccines at the earliest date possible,” Henry said.

The provincial health officer acknowledged a growing body of research that has found a longer interval to be more beneficial, but said that has to be weighted against the current risk of infection, at least in COVID-19 hotspots such as the Central Okanagan.

As of Monday, the province has administered 7,067,738 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines, including enough first shots for 82 per cent of the eligible population age 12 and older. Just over 72 per cent of eligible B.C. residents have received both doses.