COVID-19 remains far from being under control in B.C., with the number of new infections soaring, even as health officials ramp up their vaccination campaign and jab record numbers of arms.
Health officials detected 908 new infections in the past day, for a total of 95,677 since the first case was identified in late January, 2020. This is the second-highest number of cases identified in a single day, after November 27, when there were 911 cases.
Here is the breakdown of where the newly infected people reside, by health region:
• 294 in Vancouver Coastal Health (32.3%);
• 438 in Fraser Health (48.2%);
• 55 in Island Health (6.1%);
• 43 in Interior Health (4.7%); and
• 78 in Northern Health (8.6%).
Another three British Columbians died overnight from COVID-19-related causes, raising the province's death toll from the virus to 1,449.
The number of serious infections in the province remains elevated, with 294 people in hospitals and 81 people sick enough to be in intensive care units.
The new-infection rate remains high, in part thanks to soaring numbers of people battling active infections, as these would be the people doing the spreading of the virus. While many people may not know that they are infected, there are 6,245 people known to be actively fighting infections. That is the highest number since January 7.
More than 91.8%, or 87,866 people, infected in B.C. are deemed by the province to have recovered. Health officials are closely watching another 9,996 people for symptoms because they have had known exposure to individuals identified as having carried the virus.
Vaccinations continue to ramp up, although the number of new vaccinations was not a record. B.C. healthcare workers administered 27,185 doses of vaccine to 27,164 people, with 21 others getting needed second doses.
In total, they have provided 637,856 jabs in arms to 550,623 people, with 87,233 of those getting needed second doses.
Mutant strains of the virus continue to also be a concern because they are thought to spread more easily, and they may lead to more severe illnesses. Younger people who are hospitalized with variant cases are much more likely to end up in ICU than are young people infected and hospitalized with the main COVID-19 strain.
Provincial health officer Bonnie Henry yesterday estimated that new variant cases, as a percentage of all new cases, is the "high teens." That is far less than in Ontario, where variant cases comprise around half of all new cases.
Variants of concern include the B.1.1.7 strain, first discovered in the U.K., the B.1.351 strain, first discovered in South Africa, and the P.1 strain first discovered in Brazil. B.C. overnight discovered 140 new cases of variants of concern, for a total of 1,912 cases detected in total.
Of that total, more than 87.1% of are of the B.1.1.7 strain, while 199 are of the P.1 strain and 47 are of the B.1.351 strain.
There are three outbreaks still active at B.C. seniors' homes. They are:
• Fleetwood Place in Surrey;
• Oceana PARC in White Rock; and
• Cottonwoods Care Centre in Kelowna.
Fraser Health on March 25 relayed that there is a new outbreak at Abbotsford Regional Hospital.
That makes nine hospitals in B.C. that have outbreaks. They are:
• Abbotsford Regional Hospital;
• Chilliwack General Hospital;
• Eagle Ridge Hospital in Port Moody;
• Kelowna General Hospital in Kelowna;
• Mission Memorial Hospital in Mission;
• Ridge Meadows Hospital in Maple Ridge;
• Surrey Memorial Hospital in Surrey;
• UBC Hospital, and
• Vancouver General Hospital in Vancouver.
