With a record 1,013 new COVID-19 infections detected in the past day, B.C. has passed the 100,000 threshold for total known cases.
So far, B.C. health officials have detected 100,048 cases of the virus. Of those, more than 91%, or 91,066 people are what the province considers recovered.
The province lists 7,405 people as actively battling infections, and 1,458 people as having died, which leaves 119 people unaccounted for, with provincial officials having told Glacier Media that a likely reason being that the individuals left the province and did not update authorities.
The 7,405 people actively infected is the highest total provided so far in 2021. B.C. announced that there were 7,803 people actively infected on December 31, and then did not provide another update until January 4, when it said 6,823 people were known to be infected.
Another three people died from the virus overnight, while 301 are fighting the virus in hospitals, with 80 of those being in intensive care units.
Health officials are closely monitoring another 11,468 people for symptoms because they have had known contact with individuals identified as carrying the virus. That is the highest number since December 11, when officials were monitoring 12,008 individuals.
Here is the breakdown of where the 1,013 newly infected people reside, by health region:
• 385 in Vancouver Coastal Health (38%);
• 458 in Fraser Health (45.2%);
• 47 in Island Health (4.6%);
• 64 in Interior Health (6.3%);
• 60 in Northern Health (5.9%); and
• no people who reside outside Canada.
The spread of mutant strains of COVID-19 continues to be a concern because they are thought to spread more easily, and have been linked in B.C. to causing an increase in intensive care visits among younger people who have been admitted to hospital.
The province, however, did not release any new data related to the variants because of what it called a "delay in the sequencing analysis."
B.C. vaccinated a record 31,855 people in the past day, for a total of 668,729. Given that 32 doses of vaccine in the past day went to people as needed second doses, a total of 31,887 doses of vaccine were administered in the past day. In total, 756,080 doses of vaccine have been administered since the first dose was dispensed on December 16. There are 87,351 people in B.C. who have now had two doses.
B.C. health officials on average have vaccinated 6,368 new people per day in the 104 days since that first dose was provided.
There are three outbreaks active at B.C. seniors' homes. They are:
• Fleetwood Place in Surrey;
• Longlake Chateau in Nanaimo; and
• Cottonwoods Care Centre in Kelowna.
Fraser Health announced that the outbreak at Mission Regional Hospital is now over. A new outbreak has been announced at Vernon Jubilee Hospital.
The nine hospitals in B.C. with active outbreaks are:
• Abbotsford Regional Hospital in Abbotsford;
• Chilliwack General Hospital in Chilliwack;
• Eagle Ridge Hospital in Port Moody;
• Kelowna General Hospital in Kelowna;
• Ridge Meadows Hospital in Maple Ridge;
• Prince Rupert Regional Hospital in Prince Rupert;
• UBC Hospital in Vancouver;
• Vancouver General Hospital in Vancouver; and
• Vernon Jubilee Hospital in Vernon.
