The Omicron-driven fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to set records in B.C. on Thursday, with officials reporting 4,383 confirmed new cases and one death on Thursday.
Thursday’s update is nearly 50 per cent higher than the case count reported Wednesday, and likely a significant undercount given the closure of multiple test sites in the hard-hit Lower Mainland due to frigid weather and because the province says it has maxed out its testing capacity.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported 17,766 new tests on its dashboard, Thursday.
The update also pushed the confirmed number of COVID-19 cases in B.C. to over a quarter million for the first time.
There were at least 17,357 active cases in the province, also a new record.
Of the confirmed new cases, 2,319 were in the Fraser Health region, 997 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 501 were in the Interior Health region, 122 were in the Northern Health region and 460 were in the Island Health region. Four cases involved people who lived outside of Canada.
On Wednesday, Health Minister Adrian Dix said the seven-day average for COVID-19 test positivity province-wide had nearly hit 14.5 per cent.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry also acknowledged the test numbers did not represent the true spread of the virus in the community, saying, “On average, there’s probably three to four times the number of people who truly have COVID than what is in our surveillance numbers on a daily basis.”
Officials reported 211 active cases in hospital, up five overnight, including 66 people in critical or intensive care.
Fraser Health also declared a new outbreak in a medicine unit of Mission Memorial Hospital, involving eight patients, along with outbreaks at five new long-term care facilities.
More than 4.38 million British Columbians, 88 per cent of those eligible and 85.2 per cent of B.C.’s population, have had one dose of vaccine.
Of them, more than 4.13 million people, 82.9 per cent of those eligible and 80.2 per cent of B.C.’s population have had two doses.
A further 884,416 people, 19.1 per cent of those eligible and 17.1 per cent of B.C.’s population have had a third booster dose.
Fully vaccinated people accounted for 84.2 per cent of cases over the past week and 45.3 per cent of hospitalizations over the past two weeks.
B.C. is rationing PCR tests for seniors and people in other high-risk categories, and has asked people with mild symptoms to stay home, isolate and assume they have the virus.
People who are double-vaccinated and have been a close contact of someone who has been infected do not need to isolate, but are being told to monitor themselves for symptoms and to avoid group settings and vulnerable people.
Since the start of the pandemic, B.C. has reported 251,054 cases and 2,420 deaths.
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