COVID numbers continue to fall as B.C. records 324 new cases of COVID-19 and 7 more deaths
There are 379 people in hospital with the disease, 109 of whom are in intensive care
B.C. health officials announced 324 new cases of COVID-19 and seven more deaths on Wednesday.
In a written statement, the provincial government said there are currently 3,380 active cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus in B.C.
A total of 379 people are in hospital, with 109 in intensive care.
Overall hospitalizations, which typically lag behind spikes and dips in new cases, are down by six per cent from last Wednesday, when 404 people were in hospital with the disease.
The number of patients in intensive care is down by about seven per cent from 117 a week ago.
The provincial death toll from COVID-19 is now 2,281 lives lost out of 207,779 confirmed cases to date.
The regional breakdown of new cases is as follows:
- 108 new cases in Fraser Health, which has 1,211 total active cases.
- 73 new cases in Northern Health, which has 507 total active cases.
- 60 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health, which has 492 total active cases.
- 50 new cases in Interior Health, which has 622 total active cases.
- 33 new cases in Island Health, which has 479 total active cases.
- There are no new cases among people who reside outside of Canada, a group which has 59 total active cases.
There are a total of 13 active outbreaks in assisted living and long-term and acute care.
Acute care outbreaks include:
- Queen's Park Care Centre,
- Abbotsford Regional Hospital.
- Burnaby Hospital.
- Ridge Meadows Hospital.
- Royal Inland Hospital and
- Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
As of Wednesday, 90.7 per cent of those 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 86.9 per cent a second dose.
From Nov. 9-15, people who were not fully vaccinated accounted for 60.8 per cent of cases and from Nov. 2-15, they accounted for 71.9 per cent of hospitalizations, according to the province.
So far, 8.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, including four million second doses.
Exemptions at U.S. border
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said Wednesday in a written statement that given the current situation in B.C., travellers who must go through U.S. to get to their residence in Canada are exempt from the COVID-19 pre-arrival test, the test in Canada, and quarantine requirements.
"There are many factors that come into play when a CBSA border services officer is determining which instructions are provided to a traveller," it said.
"CBSA officers use all of the information available to them when a traveller is seeking entry into Canada to determine which set of instructions apply to the traveller."