B.C. Covid update: 3,289 new cases over weekend as part of third wave

Dr. Bonnie Henry confirmed today that B.C. is in a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic as she reported 3,289 new cases since Friday.

“This is — I don’t need to say — our third wave. And knowing this, we need to chart our best path forward to manage this wave in British Columbia,” the provincial health officer said at Monday’s update.

The weekend total works out to an average of 1,096 cases a day, with 299 cases in Interior Health and 18 more Covid-related deaths.

The death toll is now at 1,513.

From Friday to Saturday, there were 1,283 new cases (second highest daily total); from Saturday to Sunday, 1,036, and from Sunday to Monday, there were 970 cases, for a grand total of 112,829.

Over the weekend, there were 740 cases in Vancouver Coastal (22.5 per cent), 1,957 in Fraser Health (59.5 per cent), 167 in Island Health (5.1 per cent), 299 in Interior Health (9.1 per cent) and 125 in Northern Health (3.8 per cent).

Henry urged people to stay home, to stay in their immediate neighbourhood, as much as possible.

“If you live in the Lower Mainland, you should not be travelling to the island. If you live in Penticton, you should not be going to Sun Peaks or Oliver or Kelowna right now. We need to only do those types of travel if it’s essential, and nothing more,” said Henry.

However, Henry encouraged everyone to still get outside everyday.

“We know there are things we can do safely, and mostly that means doing them outside and keeping our distance and our safety measures in place,” she told Monday’s update.

Henry said 50 per cent of cases are one of the three variants.

There are now 9,937 active cases, with 368 in hospital with Covid-19 and 121 in intensive or critical care.

Health Minister Adrian Dix said the hospitalizations are getting close to a record for B.C.

As for the outbreaks in Interior Health, the one at Vernon Jubilee Hospital’s Level 3 surgical unit still has 14 cases: 10 patients and four staff, with three deaths connected. One at Kelowna General Hospital unit 4E remains at three cases: one patient and two staff, and the outbreak at Cottonwoods Care Centre long-term care in Kelowna is the same with 28 cases with  one connected death.

As of Monday afternoon, 1,112,101 doses of three Covid vaccines had been administered, with 87,744 second doses.

As of today, people aged 65 and over can book vaccine appointments.