B.C. records highest jump in COVID-19 cases in over a month

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — B.C.’s COVID-19 fight Friday took a step backwards Friday, with a large jump in new cases.

There were 112 new cases Friday, nearly three times the number recorded Monday. There were four new deaths for a total of 1,767 since the pandemic began.

Of the active cases, 46 people are in the hospital, of whom 17 are in the ICU. The number of patients hospitalized with the virus has remained relatively stable all week.

B.C’s Interior region recorded the majority of the new cases. With 59 cases reported on Friday, the total number in that region now stands at 256.

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The province’s previous hot spot, the Fraser Health region, had 30 new cases, bringing its total of active cases now at 199.

Vancouver Coastal Health reported 15 new cases, five in Island Health, three in Northern Health.

Four people have passed away from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Our condolences are with the family, friends and caregivers of those who have died as a result of COVID-19.

— Adrian Dix (@adriandix) July 23, 2021

There are two active outbreaks in B.C.’s care centres: Laurel Place at Surrey Memorial Hospital, and Holyrood Manor long-term care centre.

Just over 80 per cent of eligible British Columbians age 12 and up have one dose of vaccine, and more than 58 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Provincial Health Minister Adrian Dix says it’s concerning to see cases increase but with hospitalizations remaining low, it is clear vaccinations are working and are the solution – as they have been all along.

“If we look at all the cases from June 15 to July 15, 78 per cent of our COVID-19 cases are among the unvaccinated who represent a minority of the population,” he says.

Unvaccinated people are where most infections are happening. Only 4 per cent of new cases in that time period were fully vaccinated and one woman in her 90s died, Dix says.

“People talk about the variants, and there are significant variants of concern. [But] really the vulnerability now is in our unvaccinated populations,” he says.

Next week, the province is laying out a plan to get more first doses into arms.

After big leaps at the start with so many vaccinated now, Dix says it’s taking about a week to increase first shots by one per cent increments.