There are 236 active cases of COVID-19 in the Island Health region, including 58 reported over the weekend. That number includes 141 in the central island region, up 29 since Friday, along with 58 in the south and 37 in the north. There are six people hospitalized with the virus on the island, including four in critical care, according to the B.C. government COVID-19 dashboard.
Island Health declared an outbreak at the Veterans Memorial Lodge long-term care home in Saanich on Nov. 29. One staff member has tested positive so far and is isolating at home. The outbreak has only affected one unit of the facility, according to Island Health.
“It is significantly greater — the transmission of COVID-19 — right now, than it has ever been,” said Adrian Dix, minister of health.
Across B.C., 2,354 new cases were reported since Friday, including 277 cases from Fraser Health added to the total later because of an error, according to Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer. There are 8,855 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, including 316 in hospital and 75 in critical care.
There were 46 deaths from the novel coronavirus since Friday. Thirty-five people died in Fraser Health region and 11 in Vancouver Coastal Health, according to Dix.
“About 80 per cent of these people were people who lived in long-term care and it reflects right now the challenges we have in dealing with this virus in our communities,” said Henry.
There are 1,338 active cases of COVID-19 in long-term care homes across B.C., including 847 residents and 487 staff members.
The province’s overall hospital capacity is just under 70 per cent occupied and ICU capacity is 52.8 per cent full, according to Dix.
There are 10,139 people under active public health monitoring as a result of exposure to the virus, according to Henry.
