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There are 291 people hospitalized with an active case of COVID-19 in B.C., and the number continues to grow.

B.C.’s COVID-19 hospitalizations nearing 300

By Hannah Scott, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Published 3:43 PDT, Thu September 16, 2021

Last Updated: 4:00 PDT, Thu September 16, 2021

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COVID-19 hospitalizations in B.C. are nearing 300, a high not seen in nearly four months.

Health officials said as of today there are 291 people hospitalized with an active case, 134 of whom are in intensive care. Two weeks ago, these numbers were 199 and 116 respectively. There are 5,844 active cases in the province in total.

Officials also reported 706 new cases of COVID-19 today, three of which are epidemiologically linked. Since the pandemic began, B.C. has recorded 177,186 cases.

Of the new cases, 105 are in the Vancouver Coastal Health region (including Richmond), 203 in the Fraser Health region, 81 in the Island Health region, 213 in the Interior Health region, 104 in the Northern Health region and no new cases of people who reside outside of Canada.

Cases in Richmond declined for the second week in a row, with 56 recorded last week (Sept. 5 to 11). The previous week (Aug. 29 to Sept. 4) there were 68, down from 91 between Aug 22 and 28.

To date, 7,658,443 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C.; 3,652,033 of those are second doses.

This means that 86.8 per cent of adults and 86.3 per cent of people aged 12 and older have received their first dose of a vaccine. In addition, 79.7 per cent of adults and 78.8 per cent of those aged 12 and older have received two doses.

As of Tuesday (Sept. 14), 88 per cent of Richmondites aged 12-plus had received one dose and 82 per cent had received two doses according to the latest B.C. Centre for Disease Control data. Once the lowest-vaccinated area of the city, Richmond City Centre now leads the way in first doses, with 91 per cent of those aged 12-plus having received one dose as of Monday (Sept. 13) and 83 per cent having received two doses.

Steveston (90 per cent one dose, 86 per cent two doses), East and West Cambie/Bridgeport (90 per cent one dose, 84 per cent two doses), and Gilmore/Shellmont/East/Hamilton (89 per cent one dose, 83 per cent two doses) are all above the provincial average.

Meanwhile, Blundell (84 per cent one dose, 79 per cent two doses), Broadmoor (84 per cent one dose, 78 per cent two doses) and Thompson/Seafair (86 per cent one dose, 80 per cent two doses) are slightly below the provincial average in terms of first dose coverage.

Sadly, there were four new virus-related deaths reported today across the province, bringing that total to 1,877.

Health authorities reported one new healthcare facility outbreak and declared two over. Active outbreaks continue at 17 long-term care facilities, three assisted or independent living facilities and three acute care facilities.

From Sept. 8 to 14, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 76.1 per cent of cases and from Sept. 1 to 14 they accounted for 86.4 per cent of hospitalizations.

Past week cases (Sept. 8 to 14)—Total 4,914

• Not vaccinated: 3,347 (68.1 per cent)

• Partially vaccinated: 391 (8.0 per cent)

• Fully vaccinated: 1,176 (23.9 per cent)

Past two weeks cases hospitalized (Sept. 1 to 14)—Total 390

• Not vaccinated: 318 (81.5 per cent)

• Partially vaccinated: 19 (4.9 per cent)

• Fully vaccinated: 53 (13.6 per cent)

Past week, cases per 100,000 population after adjusting for age (Sept. 8 to 14)

• Not vaccinated: 320.9

• Partially vaccinated: 98.6

• Fully vaccinated: 30

Past two weeks, cases hospitalized per 100,000 population after adjusting for age (Sept. 1 to 14)

• Not vaccinated: 44.0

• Partially vaccinated: 7.6

• Fully vaccinated: 1.2

After factoring for age, people not vaccinated are 35.7 times more likely to be hospitalized than those fully vaccinated.

For the latest medical updates, including case counts, prevention, risks and to find a testing centre near you: http://www.bccdc.ca/ or follow @CDCofBC on Twitter.