Three B.C. seniors have died from the COVID-19 pandemic in the past 24 hours, bringing B.C.’s overall death toll from the novel coronavirus to 124, provincial health officer Bonnie Henry told media May 6.
The deaths underscore how the virus disproportionally infects and kills older people. Provincial data released on May 4, which covered the period up until April 29, showed that only one of the province’s deaths was someone younger than 50, and that man was in his 40s.
While more women have contracted the disease, more men have died.
Deaths from the disease in both genders were highest among those in their 90s, as 90% of the 26 men who were in their 90s and caught the virus died, while 21% of the 77 women who were in their 90s and caught the virus died.
Henry said May 6 that B.C.’s Centre for Disease Control had identified 23 new infections in the past day, for a total of 2,255 infections since the first cases were identified in January.
More than 66% of those people, or 1,494 patients, have officially recovered.
Seven of the new cases were related to seniors’ care homes or long-term care facilities. So far, there have outbreaks at 39 of those facilities, including 22 where active outbreaks remain, and 17, where the outbreaks have been declared officially over.
The outbreaks so far have combined to infect 274 residents and 175 workers.
The largest outbreaks outside the seniors’ homes have been at poultry-processing plants and the medium-security Mission Institution.
Four outbreaks have been identified at poultry plants, and Henry mentioned three as being active outbreaks: Chilliwack’s Fraser Valley Specialty, where there are seven cases; East Vancouver’s United Poultry, where there are 35 cases; and Coquitlam’s Superior Poultry, where there are 56 cases.
There are also 16 cases in B.C. related to an outbreak at Alberta’s Kearl oilsands work camp.
Hospitalizations in B.C. continue to be significantly below what they were a month ago, with 74 patients including 19 who are in intensive care.
The breakdown of cases so far by health region are:
• 852 in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Coastal Health;
• 1,046 in Fraser Health;
• 124 in Island Health;
• 179 in Interior Health; and
• 54 in Northern Health.
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