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B.C. COVID-19 hospitalizations rise to highest since early April

Of the 142 people suffering with COVID-19 in B.C. hospitals, 46 are in intensive care units
Dr. Bonnie Henry
B.C. provincial health officer Bonnie Henry has been providing updates on the extent of COVID-19 in B.C.

The number of British Columbians suffering in hospital with COVID-19 infections has risen 54% in the past week to 142 individuals, according to government data released November 10. That's the highest number since April 4, when there were a record 149 COVID-19 patients in B.C. hospitals.

Of those, 46 people are in intensive care units, the highest since April 22. 

Three people died overnight from the virus, raising the death toll in the province from the disease to 284.

Health Minister Adrian Dix, on the weekend, said that the number of COVID-19 patients in B.C. hospitals is "well below our capacity," but he warned that "it reflects the severity of COVID-19 in our province."

The rise in hospitalizations might have been expected given that the number of new cases identified on a daily basis has soared into regularly being more than 500 people per day. 

There were 525 new cases in the past 24 hours, for a total of 19,239 since the first case was detected in the province in late January. A comparatively low number of tests were performed in the past day – 5,823 – so the positive-test rate has soared to more than 9% – higher than it has been in at least many weeks. Positive-test data was not revealed during the early days of the pandemic, when a lower number of people were tested. 

More than 71% of those who have been infected, or 13,704 people, have recovered, according to government statistics. A record 5,133 people are actively infected, and infectious. The vast majority of those people have been told to self-isolate at home. Since the pandemic started, there are 118 people who were identified as infected but are not listed as being either actively infected, recovered or dead. Provincial officials have told BIV that the most likely cause for this is that they left the province without alerting officials on their status. 

Here is the breakdown of all detected COVID-19 cases in B.C., by health region, with new cases identified overnight in brackets:
• 5,858 in Vancouver Coastal Health (159);
• 11,582 in Fraser Health (325);
• 308 in Island Health (seven);
• 925 in Interior Health (27);
• 476 in Northern Health (seven); and
• 90 people who reside outside Canada (no change).

"We have two new health-care facility outbreaks at Holyrood Manor and Burnaby Hospital," provincial health officer Bonny Henry, and Dix said in a joint statement. "In total, 33 long-term care or assisted-living facilities and six acute-care facilities have active outbreaks."

The province did not list all six acute-care facilities, or hospitals, with active outbreaks, but it did provide a breakdown of the 33 long-term care or assisted-living facilities.

Those homes in the Vancouver Coastal Health region include:
• Haro Park Centre long-term care facility in Vancouver;
• Lakeview Care Centre in Vancouver;
• Louis Brier Home & Hospital in Vancouver;
• Royal Arch Masonic Home long-term care facility in Vancouver;
• Three Links Care Centre long-term care facility in Vancouver;
• Banfield Pavilion, the 4th Floor West long-term care facility, in Vancouver;
• Yaletown House long-term care facility in Vancouver;
• Pinegrove Place in Richmond; and
• Hamilton Village Care Centre long-term care facility in Richmond.

Those homes in the ​Fraser Health region include:
• Agassiz Seniors Community in Agassiz;
• Amenida Seniors Community in Surrey;
• Belvedere Care Centre in Coquitlam;
• CareLife Fleetwood in Surrey;
• Evergreen Baptist Care Society long-term care facility in White Rock;
• Fellburn Care Centre long-term care facility in Burnaby;
• Fort Langley Seniors Community in Fort Langley;
• Good Samaritan Delta View Care Center 2 long-term care facility in Delta;
• Harrison Pointe retirement home in Langley;
• 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;
• Laurel Place long-term care facility in Surrey;
• Mayfair Terrace Retirement Residence in Port Coquitlam;
• Normanna in Burnaby;
• Northcrest Care Centre in Delta;
• Rosemary Heights Seniors Village independent-, assisted- and long-term care facility in Surrey;
• St. Michael's Centre long-term care facility in Burnaby;
• Suncreek Village in Surrey;
• Tabor Home in Abbotsford;
• The Residence in Mission; and
• White Rock Senior Village in White Rock.

Other seniors' homes with outbreaks are the Rotary Manor Dawson Creek facility in Dawson Creek, in Northern Health; and Village at Mill Creek in Kelowna, in the Interior Health region.

gkorstrom@biv.com

@GlenKorstrom