25 more people die of COVID-19, as B.C. records 1,370 new cases over 3 days

British Columbia announced 1,370 new cases of COVID-19 and 25 more deaths from over the weekend.

The breakdown of new cases from the last three days is as follows:

• 568 new cases from Friday to Saturday.
• 470 cases from Saturday to Sunday.
• 332 cases from Sunday to Monday, the lowest one-day cases number since Aug. 9

In a written statement, the provincial government said there are currently 4,668 active cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus in B.C.

A total of 436 people are in hospital, with 140 in intensive care.

The provincial death toll from COVID-19 is now 2,181 lives lost out of 206,284 confirmed cases to date.

The regional breakdown of new cases is as follows:

• 603 new cases in Fraser Health, which has 2,024 total active cases.
• 222 new cases in Interior Health, which has 588 total active cases.
• 218 new cases in Island Health, which has 663 total active cases.
• 203 new cases in Northern Health, which has 764 total active cases.
• 124 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health, which has 570 total active cases. 
• There are no new cases among people who reside outside of Canada, a group which has 59 total active cases.

There are a total of 39 active outbreaks in long-term care, assisted living and acute care, including six new outbreaks at the following facilities:

• Cascade Gardens (Fraser Health)
• The Cedars (Fraser Health)
• Hallmark on the Lake (Fraser Health)
• Brocklehurst Gemstone Care Centre (Interior Health
• Sun Pointe Village (Interior Health)
• Chartwell Malaspina Care Residence (Island Health)

The following acute care facilities have outbreaks:

• Mission Memorial Hospital.
•  Chilliwack General Hospital.
•  Queen's Park Care Centre in New Westminster.
• University Hospital of Northern BC. 
• GR Baker Memorial Hospital in Quesnel.
• Bulkley Valley District Hospital in Northern Health.

As of Monday, 90 per cent of those 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 85.3 per cent a second dose.

From Oct. 22 to Oct.28, people who were not fully vaccinated accounted for 64.6 per cent of cases and from Oct. 15 to Oct. 28, they accounted for 73.5 per cent of hospitalizations, according to the province.

So far, more than 8.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.

No shot, no flight

As of Saturday, all travellers in Canada aged 12 and older must now be fully vaccinated before boarding planes, trains or cruise ships in this country.

Fully vaccinated travellers also need to show proof of a negative molecular COVID-19 test upon returning to Canada.

British Columbia residents can now access the federal government's proof-of-vaccination record allowing for travel within Canada and internationally.

The provincial government says residents can obtain the federal COVID-19 proof-of-vaccination card in the same way 3.7 million people downloaded their card for non-essential activities within the province.

Fully vaccinated travellers entering the United States by land from Canada will not need to present a negative COVID-19 test when the border reopens Nov. 8

Rep. Brian Higgins, a Democrat from New York state who co-chairs the U.S. Northern Border Caucus, said in a news release on Saturday that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had confirmed with his office that a negative test would not be required.

The week-over-week hospitalization comparisons are temporarily suspended after the Northern Health Authority introduced a one-time, retroactive accounting change to its hospitalization numbers Tuesday, Oct. 26. We will reintroduce them Wednesday, Nov. 3.