Vancouver Island records 3 more COVID-19 deaths
Three more people in the Vancouver Island region died of COVID-19 over the weekend, among 22 deaths recorded across the province since Friday.
The update Monday from the Health Ministry puts the province's pandemic death toll at 2,490, including 155 deaths in the island region.
Nine of the deaths recorded over the weekend were in the Fraser Health region, six were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region and four were recorded in the Interior.
HOSPITALIZATIONS
There are currently 60 people in hospital with COVID-19 on Vancouver Island, representing a month-over-month increase since Dec. 17, when 42 people were in hospital with the disease on the island.
However, the number of hospitalizations is down from one week ago, when 64 patients were in hospital with COVID-19, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
Critical care admissions have also dropped, with 10 people currently in the ICU for treatment of COVID-19 compared to 13 patients last Monday and 14 patients on Dec. 17.
NEW CASES
There were 5,625 new cases of COVID-19 recorded in B.C. over the weekend, including 681 new cases in the island region.
Across the province, 2,383 cases were recorded Saturday, 1,733 were recorded Sunday and 1,509 were identified on Monday.
Heath officials say daily case counts are only a fraction of B.C.'s total number of suspected cases, since testing capacity is at its limits.
However, the province says confirmed cases are still an indicator of transmission rate trends in the population.
There are currently 35,985 confirmed active cases of COVID-19 in B.C., including 2,068 active cases in the island region.
VACCINATION RATES
Approximately 89.2 per cent of eligible B.C. residents aged five and older have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 83.4 per cent have received two doses.
Meanwhile, 33.3 per cent of eligible British Columbians (12 and older) have received three doses of vaccine.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.