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B.C. hits record-high COVID-19 hospitalizations for 15th straight update

Number of people suffering in hospital with the virus rose by one to 337 overnight
Dr. Bonnie Henry
B.C.'s provincial health officer Bonnie Henry spoke to media on December 2

The steady rise in people suffering in B.C. hospitals with COVID-19 keeps hitting all-time highs, with one additional person being hospitalized in the past day, pushing the number to 337. The last time that the province did not have a record high number of hospitalizations due to the virus was on November 10 – 16 provincial updates ago.

Serious cases of people in hospital with COVID-19 is also on the rise, as a record 76 people are in intensive care units (ICU), up one from yesterday.

These numbers are important because in some cases they lead to more deaths. 

B.C. recorded 12 COVID-19-related deaths in the past 24 hours, pushing the total number of recorded deaths from the virus to 469.

The 834 new infections detected in the past day is not a record, as that was set November 27, when 911 people were found to be infected in a 24-hour period. B.C. has detected a total of 34,728 COVID-19 infections since the first case was detected on January 28. Most of those who have been infected, or 24,424 people, have recovered. 

The breakdown of where the new infections are located is as follows:
• 174 in Vancouver Coastal Health;
• 529 in Fraser Health;
• 20 in Island Health;
• 66 in Interior Health; and
• 45 in Northern Health.

A record 8,941 people are battling active infections in the province, and health officials are actively monitoring 10,201 people who have come into contact with known cases.

Provincial health officer Bonnie Henry announced one new public health order that banned all adult team sports, both indoor and outdoor. That includes basketball, soccer and even sports such as curling. 

She also addressed vaccine approvals, which have started happening around the world. The U.K., for example, today approved the vaccine that Pfizer and BioNTech developed. 

"In B.C., we are working very hard to put together our immunization strategy for everybody across the province who wants to be immunized, and we are ready to provide it," she said. "We will be ready to provide it to the high-priority populations as soon as the vaccine is available for us here in BC."

Last week, she announced that Ross Brown, the vice-president of COVID-19 response in Vancouver Coastal Health, has been added to a provincial team that is tasked with facilitating the roll-out of future vaccines.

She called the imminent roll-out of vaccines "exciting news," given the toll that the pandemic has taken on people's lives. 

"This pandemic has been relentless for the last 10 months," she said. "After many months of restriction on who we can see and where we can go and what we can do, we are all feeling that fatigue. I know many, many people are doing all they can to make sure that we can help each other."

Alas, new community outbreaks have been discovered in the past day at Cove Temporary Shelter in Surrey, and at Millennium Pacific Greenhouse in Delta.

One new outbreak is in a seniors' living facility: The Revera Royal City Manor Long Term Care Home in New Westminster. 

Two outbreaks at hospitals have been identified in the past day: at West Coast General Hospital in Port Alberni and Saanich Peninsula Hospital in Saanichton.

Outbreaks in some parts of Burnaby Hospital in Burnaby and Langley Memorial Hospital in Langley are over, but provincial health officer Bonnie Henry said that the entire outbreaks are not over at those facilities. 

Other hospitals with ongoing outbreaks are:
• Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver;
• Ridge Meadows Hospital in Maple Ridge; and
• Surrey Memorial Hospital in Surrey.

Outbreaks at seniors' homes that are newly declared to be over are:
• Cottage-Worthington Pavilion in Abbotsford;
• Discovery Care Centre in Campbell River; and
• Orchard Manor in Kelowna.

There are 54 outbreaks in seniors' living, or long-term care homes. Henry said that in all of these outbreaks, there are active infections in 926 residents and 536 staff. 

Below is a breakdown of all of these outbreaks by health region.

There remain 15 active outbreaks at seniors' facilities in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, and they include:
• Arbutus Care Centre in Vancouver;
• Banfield Pavilion, in Vancouver;
• Revera Capilano Care Centre in West Vancouver;
• Columbus Residence in Vancouver;
• German Canadian Care Home in Vancouver;
• Lakeview Care Centre in Vancouver;
• Little Mountain Place in Vancouver;
• Renfrew Care Centre in Vancouver;
• Royal Ascot Care Centre in Vancouver;
• Royal Arch Masonic Home long-term care facility in Vancouver;
• St. Judes Anglican Home in Vancouver;
• Three Links Care Centre long-term care facility in Vancouver;
• Villa Cathay Care Home in Vancouver;
• Windermere Care Centre in Vancouver; and
• Youville Residence in Vancouver.

The 33 outbreaks at seniors' facilities in the ​Fraser Health region include:
• Agassiz Seniors Community in Agassiz;
• Agecare Harmony Court Estates in Burnaby;
• Agecare Court Estates in Burnaby;
• Al Hogg Pavilion in White Rock;
• Amenida Seniors Community in Surrey;
• Amica White Rock in White Rock
• Belvedere Care Centre in Coquitlam;
• CareLife Fleetwood in Surrey;
• Chartwell Langley Gardens in Langley;
• Fellburn Care Centre long-term care facility in Burnaby;
• Finnish Manor in Burnaby;
• Fleetwood Villa Retirement Residence in Surrey;
• Fort Langley Seniors Community in Fort Langley;
• George Derby Centre in Burnaby;
• Good Samaritan Delta View Care Center 2 long-term care facility in Delta;
• Harrison Pointe retirement home in Langley;
• Harrison at Elim Village in Surrey;
• Hawthorne Seniors Care Community long-term care in Port Coquitlam;
• Hawthorne Seniors Care Community assisted living in Port Coquitlam;
• Hollyrood Manor long-term care home in Maple Ridge;
• Jackman Manor in Langley Township;
• Laurel Place long-term care facility in Surrey;
• Menno Home in Abbotsford;
• Morgan Place Care Society in Surrey;
• Northcrest Care Centre in Delta;
• PICS Assisted Living in Surrey;
• Queen's Park Care Centre in New Westminster;
• Sunset Manor in Chilliwack;
• Tabor Home in Abbotsford;
• The Residence at Clayton Heights in Surrey;
• The Residence in Mission;
• Valley Haven Care Home in Chilliwack; and
• White Rock Senior Village in White Rock.

There are two outbreaks at seniors' homes in Northern Health: North Peace Seniors Housing Society buildings in Fort St. John, and Rotary Manor Dawson Creek in Dawson Creek.

Two outbreaks are at seniors' living facilities in the Island Health region: Tsawaayuss-Rainbow Gardens in Port Alberni and Veterans Memorial Lodge at Broadmead in Victoria.

The Interior Health region has two seniors' facility outbreaks, at Mountainview Village in Kelowna and Sun Pointe Village in Kelowna.

gkorstrom@biv.com

@GlenKorstrom