Friday August 7, 2020 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary Brooke, B.Sc., editor | West Shore Voice News
At the end of a week where case counts are no longer shy, today Friday August 7 the BC Centre for Disease Control (BC CDC) shows 53 new cases of COVID-19 in BC. That’s on the tail of 47 new cases yesterday, and 47 the day before that.
Last week the average number of cases (produced over the BC Day long weekend) was 36.5. The week before that, daily case numbers were in the 20s.
British Columbians did a good job of flattening the curve and keeping case counts low while everyone was in self-isolation and out of the workforce.
Meanwhile, as Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry has stated, social interactions in a way that allows for the indiscriminate COVID-19 virus to spread are seen in the case results in response first to the Canada Day weekend at the beginning of July, and continuing now as people travel around BC and around Canada then return.
COVID by age:
Today August 7 there are five new cases in children and teens. Now 81 children under age 10 have been infected with COVID-19, with three new cases reported today. And now 164 youth in the 10-19 age group have been infected with COVID, of which two are new cases reported today.
In the young adult age grouping of 20-29 years, there are now 667 cases in BC, with 21 of those new in the last 24 hours. That’s 16.9% of all cases in BC.
In the mid-adult age groupings, there have been 1,901 infections (48.3% of all BC cases). There were increases in all groupings, for a total of 17 new cases: 701 cases in age 30-39 years (10 new cases); 561 cases in age 40-49 years (three new cases); and 639 cases in age 50-59 years (four new cases).
In the young-senior age group of 60-69 years, there was one new COVID case today in BC, bringing the total for that age category to 400. That’s 10.1% of all COVID cases in BC.
In stark contrast to the beginning of the pandemic in March and April when case counts were high among older seniors and elders, there is today just one new case in anyone older than 70 years (specifically today in the 90+ age group). In total for all cases in persons over age 70, there have been 693 cases of COVID in BC, which is 17.6% of the total cases in the province.
COVID lands people in hospital:
There are currently 11 people in BC who are in hospital due to COVID-19 infection. Of those four are in intensive care. While these numbers seem small, it can remind people of the possible intensity of the infection.
While public health messaging overwhelmingly focussed on the impacts of COVID-19 infection on older seniors and elders, it was as far back as April of this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) was trying to warn younger people about the severity of the illness. “This virus could put you in hospital for weeks, or even kill you… people under 50 make up a significant proportion of patients requiring hospitalisation,” said WHO Director General Dr Tedros.
Meanwhile, the BC CDC reports today that 3,353 people have recovered from their test-positive COVID infection.
But also, presently over 1,500 people throughout BC are self-isolating, unable to leave their home unless it is to get medical care, because they have COVID-19 or have had a high-risk exposure to the virus. “This is a concern and something we can change,” said Dr Bonnie Henry in a written statement issued by BC Health today.
Seven-day run on no-new-deaths:
As of August 7, there are 195 deaths-by-COVID recorded in BC. That’s seven days now without an increase in that tally.
COVID-19 outbreaks & travel:
There has been one new health-care facility outbreak at Derby Manor in the Fraser Health region. In total, five long-term care or assisted-living facilities and one acute-care facility have active outbreaks.
There are no new community outbreaks.
However, there continues to be community exposure throughout BC from air travel — on flights into and out of British Columbia, it was reported today in the joint statement from the Provincial Health Officer and Minister of Health.
Alerts are posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control’s website, as well as on health authorities’ websites, providing details on where the potential exposure occurred and what actions you need to take – whether you need to immediately self-isolate, or monitor for symptoms.
“As we see new COVID-19 hot spots emerge and the new cases creep up in every health authority, we have to keep our firewall strong,” says Minister of Health Adrian Dix. “Like a wildfire, COVID-19 has the potential to rapidly burn out of control and we need to put out these flare-ups.”
Vancouver Island COVID profile:
On Vancouver Island there has been one new COVID case today August 7, bringing the total up to 147. That person is in the 30-39 year age group.
The previous increase in cases on Vancouver Island was two, seen on Tuesday of this week (August 4) — one of those in the 20-29 age group and one in the 30-39 age range. These are age groups likely with increased social interaction including within the workforce.
Case counts on Vancouver Island diminished to zero on many days in May and June, with increases again in July and early August.
Presently there is no one in hospital with COVID-19 on Vancouver Island.
===== Links:
BC Centre for Disease Control – COVID data