COVID-19 infections spike as 135 Omicron cases now detected in BC

British Columbia health officials announced on Wednesday that there have been 753 new test-positive COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the province to 224,998.

In a written statement, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said that there are 3,878 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. Of the active cases, 184 individuals are currently hospitalized and 70 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

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New cases and total active cases are broken down by health region as follows:

• Fraser Health: 232 new cases, 1,091 total active cases
• Vancouver Coastal Health: 240 new cases, 999 total active cases
• Interior Health: 99 new cases, 644 total active cases
• Northern Health: 45 new cases, 238 total active cases
• Island Health: 137 new cases, 905 total active cases
• Outside of Canada: No new cases, one total active case

There have been 135 cases of the Omicron variant of concern identified in BC.

This includes 38 in Fraser Health, 20 in Vancouver Coastal Health, five in Interior Health, one in Northern Health, and 71 in Island Health.

There have been three new COVID-19-related deaths, leaving a total of 2,396 deaths in British Columbia.

To date, 86.8% (4,327,774) of eligible people five and older in BC have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 82.5% (4,110,723) have received their second dose.

From December 8 to 14, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 46.3% of cases, and from December 1 to December 14, they accounted for 70.2% of hospitalizations.

Past week cases (December 8 to 14) – Total 2,980

• Not vaccinated: 1,316 (44.2%)
• Partially vaccinated: 64 (2.1%)
• Fully vaccinated: 1,600 (53.7%)

Past two weeks cases hospitalized (December 1 to 14) – Total 151

• Not vaccinated: 100 (66.2%)
• Partially vaccinated: six (4.0%)
• Fully vaccinated: 45 (29.8%)

Past week, cases per 100,000 population after adjusting for age (December 8 to 14) 

• Not vaccinated: 176.5
• Partially vaccinated: 32.8
• Fully vaccinated: 35.3

Past two weeks, cases hospitalized per 100,000 population after adjusting for age (December 1 to 14)

• Not vaccinated: 22.6
• Partially vaccinated: 4.9
• Fully vaccinated: 1.0