Island Health reported a record 202 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, as B.C.’s cases also hit an all-time high.
B.C.’s new COVID-19 case numbers — fuelled by the fast-spreading Omicron variant — have skyrocketed from around 300 cases a day a month ago to 1,308 on Tuesday.
That’s higher than previous spikes in November 2020 and April of this year. The previous daily high was 1,293 reported on April 8.
New case numbers in B.C. were already showing signs of spiking over the weekend, with new cases hitting 911 on Friday, and both Saturday and Sunday surpassing 800.
According to data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, B.C. had 6,348 active COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday. Of those, 192 patients were in hospital with the virus, including 76 in intensive care. Forty people in Island Health are in hospital and 15 are in intensive care.
Island Health has 1,116 known active cases of COVID-19. According to the health authority, the majority are in the south Island.
Of the 756 cases of the Omicron variant that have been identified in B.C., 204 are in the Island Health region.
The surging numbers, which match trends in other parts of the country, were one of the reasons the province began re-imposing strict social gathering measures that will last until at least mid-January.
In places like Ontario, where similarly strict restrictions were recently implemented because of Omicron, daily new infections topped 4,000 this week after months-long dips below 1,000. Quebec, meanwhile, reported 2,204 new cases on Nov. 25 after not seeing such high numbers since last January.
The risk posed by Omicron is “fundamentally different” than other variants and it more easily infects those who are vaccinated or have had COVID-19, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday.
Henry said data show Omicron cases are rising among younger people between the ages of 18 to 35, with most severe outcomes, including hospitalization, occurring in those who are not vaccinated.
Despite the rapid rise of the Omicron variant, it could also signal a shift in the pandemic where increasing vaccine rates and continued physical distancing along with hand washing will protect more people, she said.
“This may be the turning point as we get to learn to live with the virus,” Henry said. “I think there is optimism that this is a wave that is changing things as long as we can support immunization across the world.”
— With files from Chuck Chiang and The Canadian Press
