There are now 288 test-positive patients being treated across the province, according to a report Monday from the health ministry. This is from 260 patients on Friday. The total number of treatments, including cases and people suffering from severe COVID-19 symptoms, doubled last week, on Wednesday and Friday. Prior to that, the number was declining daily for more than six weeks. To date, there has been no corresponding increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care. This total dropped slightly over the weekend, from 50 to 48. The latest coronavirus deaths were recorded in the southwestern corner of the county, according to the ministry, with two recorded in Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health and Island Health. The death toll in BC now stands at 2,989. There is evidence that COVID-19 transmission is also beginning to increase. There were 556 new cases confirmed over the weekend, raising the province’s seven-day average to 225 a day. A week ago, the average was 202. Only cases confirmed by PCR and those that are epidemiologically related are included in the BC daily updates and the government does not offer these tests to most symptomatic people. Some other jurisdictions have seen new transmissions powered by Omicron sub-variant BA.2, but it is unclear whether BC could move in the same direction – or whether this could affect plans to lift passport requirements. vaccines early next month. Head of Public Health Dr Theresa Tam said that even if the incidence increases significantly in Canada, the high rate of vaccinations in the country should keep hospitalizations at manageable levels. As of Monday, 90.8 percent of eligible BC residents have received at least one vaccine dose and 87.3 percent have received two. Just over 59 percent of eligible adults have had a third vaccine. No new COVID-19 cases were reported at health facilities over the weekend and that at Hillside Village, a long-term care home in Salmon Arm, ended. That leaves six active cases across the healthcare system, most of them in long-term care homes on Vancouver Island. But changes in the province’s criteria for declaring outbreaks have raised questions about the true extent of the problem. CTV News reported last week that dozens of workers and residents at Haro Park, a Vancouver nursing home, had tested positive in recent weeks, but that the local health authority had not yet reported an outbreak at the unit.
