COVID-19 hospitalizations in B.C. jump by 32

Oct 27, 2021 | 4:40 PM Liam Verster

British Columbia now has 422 COVID-19 hospitalizations, as 32 new patients were admitted to hospitals across the province Wednesday.

The Ministry of Health reports that 157 of those patients are in intensive care.

Of those hospitalizations, 63 are in the Interior, with 38 of those patients in intensive care.

Data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) shows the unvaccinated continue to contribute the most to COVID hospitalizations, accounting for 68.2 per cent of admissions over the past two weeks. During that same period, the fully vaccinated made up 25.2 per cent of hospitalizations, and the partially vaccinated comprised the 6.9 per cent difference.

The ministry notes active COVID-19 case counts for the Interior remained flat at 642 Wednesday as 92 new cases were reported in the region.

The new cases were part of 609 reported provincewide, and as of Wednesday B.C.’s active COVID-19 case count was 4,748.

The BCCDC notes that 57.2 per cent of new cases identified over the past week have been in unvaccinated individuals, and that people who have had two doses of a vaccine accounted for 35.9 per cent of new cases.

As of Wednesday, British Columbia’s first dose vaccination rate for residents over the age of 12 was 89.7 per cent, and the second dose rate was 84.7 per cent.

The Ministry of Health also reported six deaths Wednesday, one from Northern Health’s region and five from the Fraser Health jurisdiction. A total of 2,137 British Columbians have now died due to COVID-19 complications.

Five new health-care facility outbreaks were announced Wednesday while one was removed from the list, all of which are located in the Fraser Health region. Five of the 32 active outbreaks in B.C. are located in the Interior.

As for the outbreaks in Interior Health:

Cottonwoods Care Centre long-term care in Kelowna has 70 cases: 55 residents and 15 staff, with 17 deaths connected to the outbreak;
Overlander Long-Term Care in Kamloops has 28 cases: 21 residents and seven staff, with five deaths connected to the outbreak;
Village by the Station long-term care in Penticton has 41 cases: 27 residents and 14 staff, with three deaths connected to the outbreak;
Haven Hill Care Centre long-term care in Penticton has 12 cases: 10 residents and two staff, with one death connected to the outbreak;
Deni House long-term care in Williams Lake has 12 cases: 10 residents and two staff, with one death connected to the outbreak.