Tuesday October 6, 2020 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc. | Island Social Trends
In the last 24 hours, out of 8,208 COVID tests in BC there were 102 new cases. That’s on par with the number of average daily cases in recent days. There have now been 9,841 cases in BC during the pandemic this year.
The surge of cases among young adults ages 20 to 39 continued in today’s profile. Together there were 45 new cases in that cluster, or 44.1% of the new cases.
Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry said that 3,089 people are self-isolating due to exposure to the COVID-19 virus, with BC having now 1,384 active cases. Now 8,184 people are said to have recovered from test-positive cases.
Among youth under the age of 19, there were 14 more cases in the last day (five in children under age 10, and nine in tweens and teens).
There were two new deaths in today’s COVID stats, with the total now at 244 for this year in BC (median age 85 years).
Public health in the new normal:
“Public health measures are a part of our ‘new normal.’ As a result, we are starting to flatten our curve once again,” said Dr Henry in a written statement today.
“There is no question that what we do today directly influences the well-being of our communities tomorrow, so let’s continue to do our part to protect ourselves and each other – each day and every day,” she said.
Hospitalizations:
So far 809 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19 in BC. That’s about 8.2% of test-positive people having needed hospital care during the course of their infection.
Presently there are 71 people in hospital (up five from yesterday, and a tally that is higher than in a long while), with 16 of those in intensive care or acute care.
“While the number of overall cases has risen, we have fewer hospitalizations than in the spring,” said Dr Henry yesterday. “This is in part because many of the recent cases of COVID-19 are those who are younger and, as a result, less susceptible to severe illness.”
Vancouver Island case profile:
One of the new cases over the past day was on Vancouver Island (someone in the 10 to 19 year age group). That was found from 838 tests done.
Neither of the two new deaths were within Island Health.
There are presently 11 active cases on the island (that’s up one from yesterday), with five in the south, five central, and one in the north. No change in the number of people who had tested positive and have now recovered, that’s at 204 (same as yesterday).
In total, there have been 221 cases on Vancouver Island to date this year due to COVID-19, with 84 of those in the south, 67 central, and 70 in north Vancouver Island.
To date on Vancouver Island there have been six COVID deaths, the most recent on September 28.
