British Columbia reported another 13 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, as the number of active cases in the province’s hospitals neared 900 for the first time.
Health officials reported 895 positive cases in hospital settings, up 41 overnight, along with 115 cases in critical or intensive care.
The province also reported another 2,387 confirmed cases of COVID-19, though daily case totals are no longer viewed as reliable due to limited access to testing.
As of Wednesday, 86.4 per cent of B.C.’s population ( per cent of those eligible) have had one dose of vaccine, 80.7 per cent of B.C.’s population ( per cent of those eligible) have had two doses, and 31.9 per cent of B.C.’s population ( per cent of those eligible) have had three doses.
Fully vaccinated people made up 74.1 per cent of new cases over the past week and 68.2 per cent of hospitalizations over the past two weeks.
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But on a per-capita basis, the unvaccinated continue to be disproportionately seriously affected by the virus. From Jan. 4 to Jan. 17, per 100,000 population there were 70.5 hospitalizations among the unvaccinated compared to just 15.5 among those with two doses of vaccine.
Since the start of the pandemic, B.C. has reported 303,565 total cases of COVID-19, while 2,505 people have died.
Earlier Thursday, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control revised its guidance for how long unvaccinated people who catch COVID-19 should isolate down to five days, the same length as for vaccinated people.
Unvaccinated people had previously been told to isolate for 10 days.
Gyms and fitness centres subject to COVID-19 closures are scheduled to begin reopening Thursday, with capacity limits and mandatory masks and vaccination.
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