17 more people die of COVID-19 as B.C. records 1,438 new cases over 3 days

British Columbia on Monday announced 1,438 new cases of COVID-19 and 17 more deaths over the weekend.

In a written statement, the provincial government said there are currently 4,282 active cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus in B.C.

The breakdown of new cases is as follows:

• Nov. 5-6: 553 new cases.
• Nov. 6-7: 462 new cases.
• Nov. 7-8: 423 new cases.

A total of 407 people are in hospital, with 121 in intensive care.

Overall hospitalizations, which typically lag behind spikes and dips in new cases, are down by seven per cent from last Monday, when 436 people were in hospital with the disease.

The number of patients in intensive care is down by about 14 per cent from 140 a week ago.

The provincial death toll from COVID-19 is now 2,218 lives lost out of 209,703 confirmed cases to date.

The regional breakdown of new cases is as follows: 

• 575 new cases in Fraser Health, which has 1,832 total active cases.
• 321 new cases in Interior Health, which has 683 total active cases.
• 221 new cases in Island Health, which has 615 total active cases.
• 166 new cases in Northern Health, which has 608 total active cases.
• 155 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health, which has 485 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 33 active outbreaks in assisted living and long-term and acute care, including three new outbreaks at Burnaby Hospital, Maplewood House in Abbotsford and Revera Parkwood Manor in Coquitlam.

Acute care outbreaks include: 

• Mission Memorial Hospital.
• Queen's Park Care Centre.
•  Abbotsford Regional Hospital.
• Burnaby Hospital.
• Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.
• University Hospital of Northern B.C. 
• GR Baker Memorial Hospital in Quesnel.
• Bulkley Valley District Hospital in Northern Health.
• Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.

As of Monday, 90.3 per cent of those 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 86.0 per cent a second dose.

From Oct. 29 to Nov. 4, people who were not fully vaccinated accounted for 65.5 per cent of cases and from Oct. 22 to Nov. 4, they accounted for 70.7 per cent of hospitalizations, according to the province.

So far, 8.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, including 3.9 million second doses.

U.S. land border opens

The United States reopened its borders Monday to fully vaccinated travellers arriving by air, land or passenger ferry.

Air travellers will need to show proof of vaccination on arrival in the U.S. and will also still need to show a negative pre-departure COVID-19 test taken within three days of boarding their flight.

Non-essential travellers crossing at a land border will be required to show proof of vaccination or attest to their vaccination status upon request by a border agent — but unlike air travellers, they will face no requirement to show a negative COVID-19 test.

Canada is still requiring all travellers entering the country to provide proof of a negative test, regardless of their point of entry.

​​The Canada-U.S. border has been closed to non-essential travel since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Canada opened its border to U.S. travellers in early August.