Thursday December 30, 2021 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc. | Island Social Trends
COVID numbers in BC are pushing ever-higher thanks to the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant.
A few times in the past two weeks, Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry has said that everyone can expect to be exposed to the Omicron variant, as it spreads so easily. If you have cold-like symptoms, assume you have COVID, she said last week and this week.
If just assuming one has COVID (and not coming in for testing) will start impacting the integrity of the data (as to total cases). Note this sudden drop in Island Health active cases at December 30, even though the new-case counts are trending upward in Island Health and across the province:
Active cases in Island Health were 856 at Dec 15, then heading higher since then: 975 at Dec 17; 1,021 at Dec 20; 1,116 at Dec 21; 1,145 at Dec 22; 1,274 at Dec 24; 1,353 at Dec 29; now back to 856 on Dec 30).
Today’s statement, and live tomorrow:
Today BC Health issued a statement at 4:40 pm with current COVID numbers for December 30, 2021 (next livestreamed update with Dr Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix is tomorrow Dec 31 at 10 am).
Here is the December 30, 2021 statement in full:
INFORMATION BULLETIN
COVID-19 pandemic update
VICTORIA – As of Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, 88.0% (4,388,068) of eligible people five and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 82.9% (4,131,506) have received their second dose.
In addition, 91.9% (4,260,681) of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, 89.1% (4,131,345) have received their second dose and 19.1% (884,416) have received a third dose.
Also, 92.3% (3,991,809) of all eligible adults in B.C. have received their first dose, 89.6% (3,875,648) have received their second dose, and 20.4% (883,558) have received a third dose.
B.C. is reporting 4,383 new cases of COVID-19, including 21 epi-linked cases, for a total of 251,054 cases in the province.
There are 17,357 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 230,784 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 211 individuals are in hospital and 66 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
The new/active cases include:
* 2,319 new cases in Fraser Health
* Total active cases: 7,940
* 977 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health
* Total active cases: 6,424
* 501 new cases in Interior Health
* Total active cases: 1,713
* 122 new cases in Northern Health
* Total active cases: 422
* 460 new cases in Island Health
* Total active cases: 856
* four new cases of people who reside outside of Canada
* Total active cases: two
Note: Active cases exclude those who have died, discontinued isolation or been lost to followup.
In the past 24 hours, one new death (Interior Health) has been reported, for an overall total of 2,420.
There have been 2,825 cases of the Omicron variant of concern confirmed in B.C.:
* Fraser Health: 777
* Vancouver Coastal Health: 1,333
* Interior Health: 152
* Northern Health: 13
* Island Health: 548
* Unknown: two
There have been six new health-care facility outbreaks at Mission Memorial Hospital, New Vista Care Centre, Chartwell Langley Gardens, Chartwell Carlton Gardens, Chartwell Crescent Gardens and Guildford Seniors Village (Fraser Health), for a total of 13 facilities with ongoing outbreaks, including:
* long-term care:
* The Oxford Senior Care Home, Fort Langley Seniors Community, AgeCare Harmony Court, New Vista Care Centre, Chartwell Langley Gardens, Chartwell Carlton Gardens, Chartwell Crescent Gardens, Guildford Seniors Village (Fraser Health); and
* Ridgeview Lodge (Interior Health)
* acute care:
* Mission Memorial Hospital (Fraser Health); and
* Lions Gate Hospital (Vancouver Coastal Health)
* assisted or independent living:
* The Waverly Seniors Village (Fraser Health)
* mental health and substance use:
* UBC Hospital – Detwiller Pavillion (Vancouver Coastal Health)
From Dec. 22-28, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 15.8% of cases.
From Dec. 15-28, they accounted for 54.7% of hospitalizations.
Past week cases (Dec. 22-28) – Total 15,429
* Not vaccinated: 2,185 (14.2%)
* Partially vaccinated: 249 (1.6%)
* Fully vaccinated: 12,995 (84.2%)
Past two weeks cases hospitalized (Dec. 15-28) – Total 117
* Not vaccinated: 64 (54.7%)
* Partially vaccinated: 0 (0.0%)
* Fully vaccinated: 53 (45.3%)
Past week, cases per 100,000 population after adjusting for age (Dec. 22-28)
* Not vaccinated: 337.3
* Partially vaccinated: 96.4
* Fully vaccinated: 283.7
Past two weeks, cases hospitalized per 100,000 population after adjusting for age (Dec. 15-28)
* Not vaccinated: 14.9
* Partially vaccinated: 0.0
* Fully vaccinated: 1.1
Since December 2020, the Province has administered 9,368,643 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Pfizer Pediatric COVID-19 vaccines.
===== Learn More:
For the Dec. 21, 2021, announcement on additional COVID-19 measures, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021HLTH0234-002431
For the Dec. 21, 2021, PowerPoint presentation on COVID-19 updated measures, boosters and rapid antigen testing in B.C., visit:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/CovidMeasures.pdf
For the Dec. 17, 2021, announcement on new COVID-19 measures, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021HLTH0230-002414
For the Dec. 14, 2021, modelling presentation, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/12.14.21_PHO_modelling.pdf
For the Nov. 23, 2021, announcement on COVID-19 pediatric vaccine for children aged 5-11, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021HLTH0209-002245
To learn more about COVID-19 vaccines for children: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/covid-19/vaccine/children
For the Oct. 26, 2021, announcement on COVID-19 booster shots for all British Columbians, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/25604
For information on booster doses, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/covid-19/vaccine/booster
For information on a third dose for people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/covid-19/vaccine/register#immunocompromised
As they become available, information on school outbreaks will be posted online: www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/public-exposures
For surgical renewal commitment progress reports, visit:
* https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/surgical-renewal-progress-report-April-2021.pdf
* https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/surgical-renewal-progress-report-Apr-May-2021.pdf
* https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/surgical-renewal-progress-report-May-June-2021.pdf
* https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/surgical-renewal-progress-report-June-July-2021.pdf
To learn about how B.C. counts its daily COVID-19 cases in hospitals, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021HLTH0058-001844
To learn about the BC Vaccine Card and how to access yours, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/vaccinecard.html
For the Aug. 12, 2021, announcement on mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for long-term care
workers, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/25143
For information on breakthrough cases, see the BCCDC weekly data summary: http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/data#summary
Detailed data is posted daily on the BCCDC dashboard: http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/data
Or: www.bccdc.ca
To register to be immunized or to learn about getting your second dose, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/covid-19/vaccine/register
Or https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/covid-19/vaccine/dose-2
For the provincial health officer’s orders and guidance, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/office-of-the-provincial-health-officer/current-health-topics/covid-19-novel-coronavirus
For guidance on restrictions, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-preparedness-response-recovery/covid-19-provincial-support/restrictions
The latest updates, including case counts, prevention, risks and to find a testing centre near you: http://www.bccdc.ca/
Or follow @CDCofBC on Twitter.
For COVID-19 exposure events, updates and information, visit:
* BCCDC: http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/public-exposures
* Fraser Health: fraserhealth.ca/covid19exposure
* Interior Health: https://news.interiorhealth.ca/news/public-exposures/
* Island Health: https://www.islandhealth.ca/learn-about-health/covid-19/data-outbreaks-facilities
* Northern Health: https://www.northernhealth.ca/health-topics/outbreaks-and-exposures
* Vancouver Coastal Health: http://www.vch.ca/covid-19/public-exposures