Wednesday October 21, 2020 | VICTORIA, BC [Updated October 21, 2020]
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc., editor | Island Social Trends
The same number of new-daily COVID-19 cases — 167 –were reported for BC today Tuesday October 20 as was the average over the last weekend (499 cases over three days October 16 to 19).
Out of 5,314 tests done in the last 24 hours, that’s a positivity rate of 3.14%; that could mean an increase in community spread but it could also indicate a more accurate strategy of deciding who gets tested.
BC COVID stats at October 20:
The total number of COVID-19 cases in BC now stands at 11,854 since the beginning of the pandemic.
There was one new case on Vancouver Island in the October 20 stats (someone in their 70s); Island Health now has seen 244 cases in total.
There was one more COVID-19 death reported for October 20, bringing BC’s tally to 254.
Presently there are 1,688 active cases (up from 1,639 on Monday). Of those, 69 people are in hospital (up from 67 on Monday, but down from 72 on Friday, and higher tallies of 75 and 85 seen last week). So far this year 904 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19 in BC.
The number of hospitalized patients in ICU is 18 (down from 19 on Monday, and down from 26 before the weekend).
Age distribution of COVID-19 cases in BC:
Of the 167 new cases in the October 20 stats, here is the distribution and one-day increases:
- under age 10 – 438 (+7)
- age 10 to 19 – 774 (+10)
- 20s – 2,726 (+37)
- 30s – 2,401 (+32)
- 40s – 1,766 (+27)
- 50s – 1,562 (+13)
- 60s – 965 (+13)
- 70s – 592 (+6)
- 80s – 386 (+4)
- 90+ – 205 (+2)
Recovered (October 20):
Now 9,871 people in BC are listed as recovered from test-positive cases of COVID-19, though Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry said again last week that some people do maintain some lingering health impacts beyond the infectious period. That can include permanently reduced lung capacity due to tissue scarring, heart and blood vessel damage, and a sustained condition of fatigue.
Children getting COVID:
In BC to date (as at October 20), 1,212 young people have tested positive for COVID-19 (10.2% of total cases in BC). That figure includes 438 children under the age of 10 and 774 youth of ages 10 to 19.
The BC Centre for Disease Control (BC CDC) website has a section about COVID-19 and Children.
Dr Henry stresses the importance of safe Halloween activities this year.
Halloween is almost here:
It came up again around Halloween. Dr Henry described ways to keep people separated (except in your own bubble). That seems to be more important than the aspect of touching surfaces (so long as people remember to wash their hands).
For Halloween this year: No parties (outside of your own household bubble), no walking into people’s homes for treats, no bonfire crowds, no community hall gatherings, no retail mall parade-throughs for candy giveaways. It’s a socially-quiet end of the harvest season this year but can still be fun in at-home creative ways or decorating the outside of your house for the enjoyment of your neighbours.
Under public health watch:
There are 4,156 people in self-isolation due to known exposure to the infectious virus. That’s a growing number — up from 4,028 on Monday, 3,713 on the previous Friday, 3,683 last Thursday, and around 3,600 at the start of last week following the Thanksgiving long weekend.
The October 20 count of 4,156 is the highest number of people so far who are under active public health surveillance for known exposure to the COVID-19 virus.
This means being away from work and school and other regular activities, and dealing with things like grocery shopping in the ways most of us did during the early near-lockdown of the first phase of the pandemic.
There are overhead economic costs to all of this — from having things delivered to self-isolated people at home, buying health-support items, and loss of work opportunity.
A list of COVID-19 symptoms is posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control website.
After people are officially ‘not infected’ there can continue to be lingering symptoms for days, weeks or months — being learned about as people begin to tell their stories.
BC CDC data on COVID-19:
All the details about COVID-19 in BC are available anytime on the BC Centre for Disease Control website. | BC CDC data about COVID
