Unvaccinated people have been responsible for pushing higher the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in B.C., according to new government data.
In the week that ended August 23, there were 144 unvaccinated hospital patients with COVID-19, or 77% of the total, said government data. The other patients included 15, or 8%, who were partially vaccinated, and 28, or 15%, who were fully vaccinated.
New cases in the two weeks that ended August 23 showed a similar pattern, with 372 unvaccinated people representing 68.4% of the total. Another 53 of the new infections, or 9.7%, were partially vaccinated people. The remaining 119 individuals, or 21.9%, of the new cases in that period were fully vaccinated people.
Hospitalizations have risen in each of the past five data updates, to 139 on August 25. The last time that number was higher was on June 11.
Of those hospitalized, 75 have illnesses severe enough to be in intensive care units (ICUs), which is down by three from yesterday.
Officials know of one additional person who they say has died from COVID-19, raising the province's death toll from the virus to 1,802.
Provincial officials detected 698 new cases in the past 24 hours. The Interior Health region remains the province's hot spot, although with less intensity than it has been in recent weeks.
Glacier Media crunched the numbers for how many of the 698 cases identified in the past day were in each of the province's health regions. The result for the number of new infections for each 10,000 residents (with total new cases in brackets) was:
• 1.1 in Fraser Health (203);
• 1 in Vancouver Coastal Health (129);
• 3.4 in Interior Health (252);
• 1.5 in Northern Health (45); and
• 0.8 in Island Health (69).
No new cases were in people who normally reside outside B.C.
The result by health region for the number of people fighting active infections for each 10,000 residents (with total new cases in brackets) was:
• 7.2 in Fraser Health (1,294);
• 10.8 in Vancouver Coastal Health (1347);
• 25.8 in Interior Health (1,911);
• 10.7 in Northern Health (322); and
• 5.5 in Island Health (470).
More than 95.4%, or 154,669 of the 161,969 people known to have contracted COVID-19 in B.C., are considered by the province to have recovered because they have gone 10 days after first feeling symptoms, and are therefore not thought to be infectious. The province does not wait a full 14-day incubation period to make this determination, provincial health officer Bonnie Henry told Glacier Media earlier this summer.
The number of those actively battling infections fell by one overnight, to 5,356.
Vaccinations have ticked up, following Premier John Horgan's August 23 announcement that he will bring in a vaccine-card system that will ban unvaccinated people from entering restaurants, sporting events, bars, concerts and other non-essential social venues.
Health officials provided British Columbians with 18,276 jabs in arms in the past 24 hours. That is up from an average of 13,870 in the previous four days. Of the new jabs, 8,033 went to new people, while 10,243 were needed second doses.
Of the 3,869,329 B.C. residents who have received at least one dose of vaccine, more than 90.2%, or 3,493,119 are fully vaccinated.
The B.C. government estimated in February that the province's total population is 5,147,712, so that means that nearly 75.2% of B.C.'s total population has had at least one dose of vaccine, and nearly 67.9% of the province's total population has had two doses.
The government's math holds that 83.5% of the province's eligible population, aged 12 years and older, has been vaccinated at least once, with 75.4% of eligible people being fully vaccinated.
Two seniors' homes have new outbreaks: Brock Fahrni in Vancouver, and Spring Valley Care Centre in Kelowna.
The other 12 active outbreaks at seniors' homes include:
• Heritage Village in Chilliwack;
• Hardy View Lodge in Grand Forks;
• Sun Pointe Village in Kelowna;
• Nicola Meadows in Merritt;
• Village at Mill Creek (second floor) in Kelowna;
• Hawthorn Park in Kelowna;
• David Lloyd Jones long-term care home in Kelowna;
• Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock;
• Kootenay Street Village in Cranbrook;
• Cottonwoods Care Centre in Kelowna;
• Brookhaven Care Centre in West Kelowna; and
• Nelson Jubilee Manor in Nelson.
