Friday January 22, 2021 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc. editor | Island Social Trends
One year ago the first case of COVID-19 in North America was announced out of Washington State. Four days later BC had its first case in Vancouver. Then the COVID pandemic (officially declared in BC on March 17, 2020) rolled out its fury on the world — we’re at one year and counting.
Here on Vancouver Island, overall we’ve bent the curve pretty well — remarkably so in the first wave (March-April of 2020) and again to some extent in just the last two weeks (amidst overall higher numbers, however).
Case counts on the island are generally the lowest across the health regions of BC each day and each week. With some case-count peaks in mid-November and now some in mid-January, Vancouver Islanders have otherwise managed the contain the spread of COVID-19 pretty well.
A significant presentation will be made today January 22 about a full immunization strategy for BC, led by Premier John Horgan along with Health Minister Adrian Dix, Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry, and Dr Penny Ballem. That’s at 10:30 am on the usual livestream portals (see Island Social Trends events page for links).
Today’s COVID immunization announcement will be the 166th COVID presentation by Dr Henry and Adrian Dix since the start of the pandemic.
Things have been changing frequently and rapidly during the pandemic. Today’s presentation will aim to set a course for the spring and perhaps summer-to-fall of 2021.
As for now, here are the January 21 COVID stats for Vancouver Island (Island Health):
Total cases: 1,385 during the pandemic to date, with 212 currently active.
Regional distribution: At present, most of the active cases are in central Vancouver Island (157), with 22 in the north and 22 in the south. In total during the pandemic there have been 1,371 cases in Island Health, with again most in the central area (693), then 408 in the south and 270 in the north.
By age: On Thursday January 21 there were 47 new cases (a bit on the high side for the island), with five of those in children under the age of 10 and another five in youth ages 10 to 19. The highest age bracket for new cases was among people in their 20s (18 new cases), with five new cases for people in their 30s and seven new cases in the 40s. No cases in elders age 80+ all week.
Recoveries and deaths: In Island Health 1,146 people have recovered after testing positive for COVID-19, while 17 people have died due to COVID-19 in the past year.
School exposures: Currently nine schools on Vancouver Island have COVID exposures, including one in SD62 on the west shore and one at a private school in Oak Bay.
| School name | Exposure event | Date |
| Royal Bay Secondary School 3500 Ryder Hesjedal Way Victoria, BC | Exposure | January 15, 2021 |
| Chemainus Secondary School 9947 Daniel St. Chemainus, BC | Exposure | January 4, 2021 |
| St. Michaels University School (*Junior School) 820 Victoria Ave Victoria, BC | Exposure | January 5 & 6, 2021 |
| NIDES/ Navigation SD71 Distance Education 2505 Smith Road Courtenay, BC | Exposure | January 4, 5 & 6, 2021 |
| Duncan Christian School 495 Beech Ave Duncan, BC | Cluster | January 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14 & 15 2021 |
| Quamichan Middle School 2515 Beverly St Duncan, BC | Exposure | January 4 & 5, 2021 |
| Cowichan Secondary School 2652 James St Duncan, BC | Exposure | January 5, 6 & 7, 2021 |
| Miracle Beach Elementary School (on school bus route) 8763 Paulsen Rd Black Creek, BC | Exposure | January 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8, 2021 |
| Alexander Elementary School 2471 Beverly Street Duncan, BC | Exposure | January 13, 14, 15, 2021 |
Hospitalizations: There are 14 people in hospital in Island Health, with six of those patients in intensive care. To date, in total there have been 80 hospitalizations in Island Health due to COVID.
Vaccinations: To date on Vancouver Island there have been 18,474 vaccine doses administered (Pfizer and Moderna), with 2,556 of those done in the 24 hours between Wednesday and Thursday.
Links:
No COVID cases at Ayre Manor in Sooke (January 13, 2021)
COVID exposure at St Michael’s University School – junior campus (January 15, 2021)
COVID exposure at Royal Bay Secondary School in Colwood (January 18, 2021)