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1,000 people in B.C. hospitals battling COVID-19, marking an all-time high

Nineteen more deaths from coronavirus pandemic since Friday
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Registered nurse Cayli Hunt puts on her personal protective equipment prior to entering a COVID positive room in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at St. Paul’s hospital in downtown Vancouver, Tuesday, April 21, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

B.C. public health teams reported 1,725 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, 1,293 on Sunday and 1,057 on Monday, with 19 more deaths attributed to the pandemic over the three days.

The number of people in hospital with active COVID-19 infections rose above 1,000 for the first time since the pandemic began, as of Jan. 31, with 1,048 patients, 138 of whom are in intensive care. That compares to 990 active infections in hospital as of Friday and 141 in intensive care.

Six of the deaths were in Vancouver Coastal Health, eight in Interior Health, three on Vancouver Island and two in Fraser Health.

There have been eight new health-care facility outbreaks at Kelowna General Hospital, Dr. Andrew Pavilion, Poplar Ridge, Monashee Mews, Noric House, McKinney Place, Glenmore Lodge, Summerland Senior’s Village (Interior Health). The outbreaks at Surrey Memorial Hospital, Peace Arch Hospital, CareLife Fleetwood (Fraser Health), Sun Pointe Village, Hamlets in Vernon (Interior Health), Mount St. Mary, Oyster Harbour and Parkwood Court (Island Health) have been declared over, for a total of 58 facilities with ongoing outbreaks.

From Jan. 21-27, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 26% of cases and from Jan. 14-27, they accounted for 30.6% of hospitalizations, from about 10 per cent of the adult population who remain without two doses of vaccine.

B.C. health authorities continue to operate scheduled appointment COVID-19 vaccination clinics around the province for residents age five and older. Registration and booking appointments in B.C. can be done online here, or by calling 1-833-838-2323 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., seven days a week.

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The 4,075 new cases for Jan. 29-31 by region:

• 1,225 new cases in Fraser Health, 11,503 active

• 645 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health, 5,685 active

• 1,182 new cases in Interior Health, 7,589 active

• 447 new cases in Northern Health, 1,298 active

• 575 new cases in Island Health, 1,364 active


@tomfletcherbc
tfletcher@blackpress.ca

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