B.C. records 500 new cases of COVID-19 and 5 more deaths

B.C. health officials announced 500 new cases of COVID-19 and five more deaths on Tuesday.

In a written statement, the provincial government said there are currently 4,301 active cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus in B.C.

A total of 426 people are in hospital, with 124 in intensive care.

Overall hospitalizations, which typically lag behind spikes and dips in new cases, are down by about four per cent from last Tuesday, when 445 people were in hospital with the disease.

The number of patients in intensive care is down by about nine per cent from 137 a week ago.

The provincial death toll from COVID-19 is now 2,223 lives lost out of 210,203 confirmed cases to date.

There are a total of 33 active outbreaks in assisted living and long-term and acute care, including a new outbreak at Royal Inland Hospital in the Interior Health region.

Acute care outbreaks include:

• Mission Memorial Hospital
• Queen's Park Care Centre
• Abbotsford Regional Hospital
• Burnaby Hospital
• Royal Inland Hospital
• University Hospital of Northern B.C.
• G.R. Baker Memorial Hospital
• Bulkley Valley District Hospital
• Nanaimo Regional General Hospital

From Nov. 1 to 7, people who were not fully vaccinated accounted for 63.5 per cent of cases and from Oct. 25, they accounted for 69.7 per cent of hospitalizations, according to the province.

So far, 8.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C.

Canada may scrap COVID-19 PCR test for travellers

As the U.S. reopened its land borders on Monday, some say the Canadian government should consider scrapping its costly COVID-19 PCR test requirement for fully vaccinated travellers — particularly for short cross-border trips.

Currently, recreational travellers entering Canada must show proof of a negative molecular test — such as a PCR test —taken within 72 hours of their departing flight or planned arrival at the border. But those tests can be expensive, running up to $300 and can take up to 24 hours — or longer — for travellers to get their results.

But for short cross-border trips, travellers are able to receive a PCR test in Canada and use that same test to re-enter the country within 72 hours — a loophole that is raising concern that the precaution isn't preventing COVID-19 infection from coming into the country.

"It doesn't seem like the most efficient or the most effective way. But I also think the federal government, needs to go through these things in the systematic way we expect them to," Health Minister Adrian Dix told The Early Edition on Tuesday.

"I would expect the federal government to take action on that and I think they will. But I also think that given that the borders just opened, I'm not going to criticize the federal government for being prudent and taking it one step at a time. And that's what they're doing."

On Friday, Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam acknowledged that the PCR testing policy was being "actively looked at."

Some experts suggest Ottawa could look at using the less expensive, faster and more convenient antigen tests, which are used to screen travellers in the U.S., but are also less reliable.

The province says information around vaccinations, including the total number of second doses and the percentage of eligible people vaccinated, is not available because it is currently updating the provincial immunization registry.