COVID-19 cases climb in the Interior

Interior Health’s active COVID-19 case count hit 580 Wednesday after 94 new cases were confirmed in the region, up six from the day before.

The new cases were part of 379 identified across the province. As of Wednesday there were 2,874 active cases in B.C.

COVID hospitalizations saw a slight decline, dropping to 224 patients in hospital, 77 of whom were in intensive care.

The Ministry of Health noted there were six deaths reported Wednesday, two in Fraser Health’s jurisdiction, one in the Northern Health region and three in the Island Health area. A total of 2,369 British Columbians have now died due to the virus.

The province’s vaccination rates made some gains Wednesday, as 85.8 per cent of British Columbians over the age of five have received one dose of a COVID vaccine, and 82.1 per cent have received both jabs.

Looking at just British Columbians aged 12 and over, 91.4 per cent have received one shot, 99.3 per cent are double-dosed, and 11 per cent have received a third jab.

The province stated that over the past week, 55.3 per cent of people who tested positive for COVID-19 were unvaccinated, and 41 per cent had two doses.

Over the last two weeks, 64.5 per cent of patients admitted to hospital due to complications from COVID-19 were unvaccinated, while 32.5 per cent of patients were fully immunized.

There were no new health-care facility outbreaks announced Wednesday. B.C. is home to five active outbreaks, including the Ponderosa Lodge in Kamloops.