B.C. reported 717 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, a number not seen since early May. Forty cases were in Island Health.
COVID-19 cases peaked at about 1,200 in April and fell until July, when phase three of the province’s reopening, dubbed Restart 2.0, began. Daily case counts have risen since, with the highly transmissible Delta variant representing most of the cases in Island Health.
On Friday, there were 4,277 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, including 245on Vancouver Island. Eighty-two people were in hospital and 39 in intensive care. The remainder were recovering at home in self-isolation.
The most cases reported in B.C. on Friday were in Interior Health — 376 new cases for a total of 2,446 active cases — where there is an outbreak and regional measures have been put in place to try to curb transmissions. Island Health had the fewest new cases reported.
As of Friday, 82.4 per cent of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 72 per cent are fully vaccinated.
From Thursday to Friday, no new deaths were reported. There was one death reported on Thursday, a resident from Nelson Jubilee Manor long-term care facility in Interior Health. In total, 1,779 people have died in the pandemic.
There are 11 outbreaks in long-term care and assisted or independent living, including at Campbell River’s Discovery Harbour facility, at three long-term care homes within Fraser Health, and at five long-term care homes and two assisted or independent living homes in Interior Health.
On Thursday, the province announced COVID-19 vaccinations will be mandatory for workers in all of B.C.’s public and private long-term care and assisted living facilities as of Oct. 12. Since Thursday, all volunteers and personal-service providers must be vaccinated and those who are not can no longer work in the facilities. Unvaccinated visitors must wear masks.
Rising COVID-19 case numbers, the prevalence of the Delta variant and outbreaks in long-term care homes brought in by unvaccinated workers forced the change, Henry said.
