Vancouver Island adds 61 new COVID-19 cases, as influx delays surgeries
British Columbia health officials identified 61 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Island region Tuesday.
The cases were among 525 new cases found in B.C. over the past 24 hours, according to a statement from the provincial health ministry.
There are now 5,282 active COVID-19 cases in B.C., including 619 active cases in the Vancouver Island region.
Island Health data identified the locations of 540 active cases Tuesday, including 319 in the South Island, 181 in the Central Island and 40 in the North Island.
One more person in the province has died from the disease, the ministry announced Tuesday, noting the victim was in the Vancouver Coastal Health region.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix emphasized the importance of vaccinations in preventing serious illness and death from the coronavirus during a news conference Tuesday morning.
"As of Sunday night, 156 people were in critical care in our province with COVID-19," Dix told reporters.
"One hundred and thirty-eight of those were unvaccinated, meaning that those people, the unvaccinated, are remarkably vulnerable right now to COVID-19 and its most serious effects," he added.
Since the pandemic began, 1,900 people in B.C. have died of COVID-19, including 58 people in the Island Health region.
511 SURGERIES POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19
Hospitals in B.C. postponed 511 non-urgent surgeries last week due to an influx of COVID-19 patients, according to Dix.
"Every one of those surgeries is medically necessary," he said. "Every one of those surgeries will be done."
The delayed surgeries included 34 procedures in the Island Health region, the minister said.
Thirty-two people are in hospital with COVID-19 on Vancouver Island – 16 of them in critical care, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control.
"Five per cent of COVID-19 patients in ICU [in B.C.] are fully vaccinated," Dix noted Tuesday.
There are currently 22 active outbreaks at B.C. health-care facilities, including one on Vancouver Island.
On Sunday, Island Health declared a COVID-19 outbreak after two cases of the coronavirus were detected at the Victoria Chinatown Care Centre.
All 31 residents of the home are being tested for COVID-19, as are staff members, the health authority said.
A previous health-care outbreak at Sunset Lodge in Victoria ended on Friday, after killing six residents and infecting 36 residents and staff.
Approximately 87 per cent of eligible British Columbians have now received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 79.5 per cent have received two doses.
The province has administered 7,725,586 doses of COVID-19 vaccine since it began its immunizing campaign in December.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.