B.C. records 324 COVID cases, one death

As the province details next week’s rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations for younger B.C. kids, another 324 new infections of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed.

Fraser Health recorded the most new cases with 102. Meanwhile, there were 77 cases reported in Interior Health, 60 in Northern Health, and 38 in Vancouver Coastal Health. Island Health saw 36 infections, while the remaining 11 were among people who live outside of Canada.

The province notes the out-of-country cases are historical ones that were removed due to a data correction and are now being correctly re-assigned.

There was one COVID-related death in the past day in the Northern Health region for a total of 2,304 province-wide since the pandemic began.

#BREAKING: BC is reporting 324 (-6) new cases of #COVID19 in the past 24 hours, along with one (-9) more death. Of the active cases, 345 (+8) are in the hospital, of whom 115 (0) are in the ICU. #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/ps2WBlRKLL

— John Ackermann ???? (@jackermann) November 23, 2021

There are 345 people hospitalized with the novel coronavirus, up from 337 the day before. The number of people in the ICU is unchanged at 115.

The province has announced parents can book COVID-19 shots for kids aged five to 11 starting Monday.

According to the province, 90.9 per cent of eligible people aged 12 and up have received their first vaccine dose, while 87.4 per cent have received their second.

From Nov. 15 to Nov. 21, the province says people not fully vaccinated accounted for 58.4 per cent of cases. it also says from Nov. 8 to Nov. 21, they accounted for 69 per cent of hospitalizations.

Related article: B.C. parents can book COVID-19 shots for kids five to 11 starting Monday

B.C. has announced parents can book COVID-19 shots for kids aged five to 11 starting Monday.

Parents and caregivers who’ve registered their children through the province’s Get Vaccinated website will start to receive their invitations to book their shots on Monday, Nov. 19. Doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will also start to be administered the same day.

Invitations from the province will be sent out in the same order children were registered. As of Tuesday, 91,000 of the 360,000 eligible children in B.C. were already signed up.

Kids will only be considered eligible for a shot if their fifth birthday has passed. If an 11-year-old receives the pediatric vaccine for their first dose and then turns 12 within the eight-week timeframe between doses, they will get the adult dose for their second.

There are 12 active outbreaks in health-care facilities:

Long-term care: Queens Park Care Centre, Tabor Home, Maplewood House, George Derby Centre, Dufferin Care Centre (Fraser Health); Village by the Station, Sun Pointe Village (Interior Health); and
Peace Villa (Northern Health)

Acute Care: Abbotsford Regional Hospital, Ridge Meadows Hospital (Fraser Health); and Royal Inland Hospital (Interior Health)

Assisted or Independent Living: Laurier Manor (Northern Health)

With files from Nikitha Martins