B.C. reports 587 new COVID-19 cases and 5 deaths, active cases fall again

B.C. reported 587 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday and five additional deaths as active cases and the number of hospitalized patients dropped again.

Thursday’s update brought the seven-day moving average for new cases down to 598, the first time it’s fallen below 600 since March 22.

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Of the new cases, 126 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 365 were in the Fraser Health Region, 21 were in the Vancouver Island Health region, 60 were in the Interior Health region and 15 were in the Northern Health region, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said.

Active cases dropped to 5,691, the lowest they have been in more than six weeks.

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There were 413 people in hospital, an overnight decline of 10. Of them, 141 people were in critical or intensive care.

Henry also reported B.C.’s second known case of a rare blood clot condition linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine, a man in his 40s.

He remains in stable condition in the Fraser Health region.

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“There is a test for it and there is treatment,”  Henry said of the clotting condition.

“People, if anybody (have had) any vaccine in the last four to 28 days and is feeling unwell, you should call 811 and connect with your health care provider, particularly if you have serious symptoms, which include persistent, sever headache, shortness of breath, ongoing chest pain or abdominal pain, swelling or redness in a limb.”

It comes after health officials said Wednesday they would no longer use the vaccine for first doses, citing a supply shortage.

More than 2.21 million British Columbians, representing more than 43 per cent of B.C.’s population, have now had a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccine bookings are slated to open to people aged 20 and up at 7 p.m. on Saturday, and to all British Columbians aged 18 and over on Sunday evening.

“We anticipate that all adults will be eligible very soon. We are also actively working to to incorporate the ages 12 to 17 into our immunization program, and we will be sharing more information about that next week,” Henry said.

People need to register in order to be notified when it is their turn to book.

Of the millions of British Columbians who have received a dose of vaccine, Henry said 1,340 people had contracted COVID-19 more than three weeks after being immunized.

Of them, 141 people were hospitalized, 13 people ended up in ICU and 30 people died. The average age of those deaths was 87.

The province has identified 120 cases of people who have had two doses and still contracted the illness.

B.C. has reported 137,810 cases since the start of the pandemic, while 1,632 people have died.

On Wednesday, health officials said the province had surpassed the milestone of delivering at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine to half of all eligible British Columbians.

The province also opened vaccine booking to all B.C. residents aged 30 and older.

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