Island Health confirms 2 more COVID-19 deaths, hundreds of new cases

Two more people have died of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Island region, according to the latest B.C. Centre for Disease Control data released Wednesday.

Over the past 24 hours, 13 deaths have been reported in the province, including the two in the island region, according to the BCCDC.

Since the pandemic began, 2,505 people have died of COVID-19 in B.C., including 157 in the island region.

HOSPITALIZATIONS

As of Wednesday, 60 patients were in hospital for treatment of COVID-19 in Island Health, marking a small increase from the 58 reported Tuesday, but a small decrease from the 65 confirmed last week on Jan. 12.

Meanwhile, seven patients are in critical care in Island Health due to COVID-19, marking a dip from the 10 reported yesterday and 11 confirmed on Jan. 12.

This time last month, 37 people were in hospital for COVID-19 in Island Health, including 14 patients who required critical care, according to BCCDC data from Dec. 20.

NEW CASES

Another 275 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the Vancouver Island region Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Health.

The cases were among 2,387 new cases confirmed across the province over the past 24 hours.

While confirmed cases are only a fraction of the true number of COVID-19 cases in B.C., health officials say the test results do serve as an indicator of transmission rates in the province.

There are currently 35,770 confirmed active cases of COVID-19 in B.C., including 2,095 active cases in the island region.

VACCINATIONS

Approximately 89.3 per cent of eligible British Columbians aged five and older have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 83.4 per cent have received two doses.

As of Wednesday, approximately 35.5 per cent of eligible British Columbians aged 12 and older have received a third dose of vaccine.