B.C. health officials are reporting another 522 cases of COVID-19, and 21 new deaths today.
There were another 56 new cases in Interior Health and one additional death, a woman in her 70s at the McKinney Place long term care home in Oliver – the seventh COVID-19 death in the health authority. Active cases in IHA are at 818 with 25 people in hospital, eight in ICU.
“This has been our most challenging long-term care outbreak and we offer our condolences to the family and the caregivers,” IHA CEO Susan Brown said. “This is our seventh COVID-19 death in the Interior and we must all continue to do our part and follow the public health advice to protect our most vulnerable loved ones.”
There are now 53 cases of the virus linked to the Oliver care home.
Health officials also declared a community cluster at Big White Ski Resort today which has seen 60 identified cases so far.
Active cases provincewide are down from yesterday to 9,860 with 361 people in hospital, 93 in intensive care. The provincial death toll meanwhile is up to 668 people. Of todays cases, there were 338 in Fraser Health, 84 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 37 in Northern Health and seven on Vancouver Island.
Residential care aid first to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in British Columbia
These latest numbers come a couple of hours after the first person was vaccinated against COVID-19 in the province, kicking off the provincial leg of a nationwide vaccination campaign.
Nisha Yunus, a 64-year-old residential care aide who’s been on the job for 41 years, got the first COVID-19 vaccination in the province shortly after 1 p.m. in the Vancouver Coastal Health region. On hand for that was Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Dr. Ross Brown, who is leading the province’s vaccine rollout.
“Today is a momentous day in our province with the start of our first COVID-19 vaccine clinics. With immunizations now underway, those who are most vulnerable to severe illness have one more layer of protection that will get stronger as each new person gets immunized, “Henry said, in a statement.
But like health officials and politicians across the country, she says the pandemic is far from over.
“This is why, as we enter this next stage, using our layers of protection and following all of the public health orders is more important than ever,” added Henry. “No one wants to experience the tragedy of losing a loved one when this day of hope is upon us. So let’s make Dec. 15 a day for doing all we can to protect our communities and the people we care for most.”
The first shipment of 3,900 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to arrive in the province will go to health-care workers and long-term care staff. The vaccine will be available in every health region by next week as B.C. hopes to immunize 400,000 people against COVID-19 by the end of March.
Premier John Horgan too said the province plans get tougher on British Columbians who still aren’t willing to follow COVID-19 health orders.
“This is serious. This is not a lark. This is not something we do lightly,” he said, during a weekly media availability. “Those who do not want to obey the rules that the rest of us are following will have to pay the consequences.”
As it stands, there are now 10,768 people in isolation after exposure to someone with a case of the virus, while 31,866 people are considered to have recovered – roughly 73 per cent of the total.
