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COVID-19

Unvaccinated population accounts for more than 70 per cent of B.C.’s COVID-19 cases over seven-day period

Aug 23, 2021 | 3:29 PM

VICTORIA – For the first time as part of its daily COVID-19 update, the B.C. government reports that unvaccinated residents accounted for more than two-thirds of cases over a seven-day period.

Between Aug. 11 and 17, unvaccinated individuals accounted for 2,620 of B.C.’s COVID-19 cases (71 per cent), while 583 (16 per cent) were from partially vaccinated residents and 498 (13 per cent) were those who were fully vaccinated.

Hospitalizations are stark for the unvaccinated. Between Aug. 10 and 16, the unvaccinated population accounted for 95 hospitalizations (84 per cent), while the partially vaccinated has six (five per cent) and fully vaccinated had 12 (11 per cent).

Weekend numbers

Over a three-day period between Aug. 20 and 23, B.C. reported 1,711 new cases of COVID-19, including three epi-linked cases, with 768 of them in Interior Health.

Provincially, there are 5,056 active cases of COVID-19 in the province (down by 1,289 since Friday), with 1,930 of them in Interior Health (down by 1,574 since Friday).

Of the active provincial cases, 133 are in hospital (up by four since Friday) and 80 are in intensive care (up by 21 since Friday). The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

There were 16 new deaths reported over the three-day stretch, with 14 of them in Interior Health and one each in Fraser Health and Island Health. The provincial total is 1,801.

Elsewhere, there were 419 new cases in Fraser Health (1,194 active), 290 in Vancouver Coastal Health (1,223), 133 in Island Health (401), and 100 in Northern Health (298). There was one new case of a person who residents outside of Canada (10 active).

The daily breakdown is as follows:

  • Aug. 20 to 21: 724 new cases
  • Aug. 21 to 22: 545 new cases
  • Aug. 22 to 23: 442 new cases

There are three new health-care facility outbreaks at Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock (Fraser Health), Sun Pointe Village in Kelowna (Interior Health), and Hardy View Lodge in Grand Forks (Interior Health). The outbreak at Evergreen Baptist Care Society (Fraser Health) has been declared over.

There are 13 active outbreaks, with 10 of them in Interior Health. It includes:

  • long-term care: Heritage Village, Kin Village West Court (Fraser Health), Village at Mill Creek – second floor, Nelson Jubilee Manor, Kootenay Street Village, Cottonwoods Care Centre and Brookhaven Care Centre (Interior Health)
  • acute care: Peace Arch Hospital (Fraser Health)
  • assisted or independent living: Nicola Meadows, Hawthorn Park, David Lloyd, Sun Pointe Village and Hardy View Lodge (Interior Health)

As of Monday (Aug. 23) 83.2 per cent (3,856,248) of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 74.9 per cent (3,473,215) received their second.