FILE PHOTO - Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry answers a reporter's question at a COVID-19 media briefing, June 29, 2021.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Province of B.C.
August 03, 2021 - 3:40 PM
COVID-19 case counts increased in B.C. by 742 over the long weekend, with 395 cases being diagnosed in Interior Health.
From July 30 to 31 across B.C. there were 160 new cases diagnosed, from July 31 to Aug. 1 there were 196 new cases, from Aug. 1 to 2 there were 185 new cases and from Aug. 2 to 3 there were 201 new cases. All together that raises the provincial total to 150,631 since the start of the pandemic, with 1,544 cases now active. Of the active cases, 53 individuals are in hospital and 19 are in intensive care.
While Interior Health has by far the most active cases with 847, Fraser Health added 165 new cases to its count over the weekend raising its active cases to 348, there are now 115 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health for 212 active cases, 24 new cases in Northern Health raising the total of active cases to 43 and 42 new cases in Island Health, raising the active caseload to 85.
In the past 96 hours, there was one new death in Vancouver Coastal Health raising the COVID-19 death toll to 1,772.
While caseloads rise, the number of hospitalizations are remaining relatively low and vaccinations have been said to lessen the symptoms of COVID-19.
To date, 81.4% (3,773,442) of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 67.3% (3,121,311) received their second dose.
In addition, 82.3% (3,560,982) of all eligible adults in B.C. have received their first dose and 69.7% (3,013,074) received their second dose.
Since December 2020, the Province has administered 6,902,320 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines.
A heavy push to get unvaccinated British Columbians to take their jabs has been ongoing for weeks, with pop up clinics and drop-in opportunities opening everywhere from the FreshCo in Kamloops to the Yacht Club in Kelowna.
With the greater Kelowna area being deemed an outbreak zone, Interior Health's Dr. Silvena Mema reminded parents in a letter today that there is enough time to get both jabs before the school year begins, with the truncated vaccine timeline allowed in Kelowna, if they've yet to do so.
"If you or your child have not been immunized against COVID-19 yet, now is the perfect time to do so. Getting one dose now and the second one 28 days later means you will have full immunity by the time school starts. There’s no need to register in advance. Just drop-in and get vaccinated," she wrote.
"Getting vaccinated is the best way we can protect each other against the variants and ensure they can’t mutate and spread. You will be joining millions of British Columbians who have already joined the fight and helped slow the spread of COVID-19. We are counting on you for a safe start to the school year. So please, if you haven’t yet been vaccinated but are able to, come visit us."
It was expected that mask requirements would be gone by September, but given that they are again required indoors within Kelowna area buildings that remains to be seen.
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