B.C.'s daily tally of new COVID-19 infections earlier this week appeared to be on a steady decline, but the last couple days have shown a reversal in that trend.
Health officials detected 497 new COVID-19 cases in the past day, up from 468 yesterday, and 324 on November 17. That 324 figure had been the lowest number since August 9.
The new cases have again started outpacing recoveries, pushing up by 57 the number of people actively fighting infections, to 3,402.
Of the 358 people with infections serious enough to be in B.C. hospitals, 109 are in intensive care units (ICUs).
Three people died from COVID-19 in B.C. overnight, including individuals in Fraser Health, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Coastal Health and Northern Health.
Of the 214,636 people known to have contacted COVID-19 in B.C., the province considers 208,702 to have recovered.
Another 1,819 people in the province received their first vaccination in the past day, while 4,111 others received needed second doses. That raises the number of people in B.C. with at least one dose of vaccine to 4,209,651, with 4,034,962 of those being fully vaccinated with two doses.
The province's math shows that this is 90.8% of the eligible population having at least one dose of vaccine, while 87% of the population has had two doses. Provincial health officer Bonnie Henry has said that as the percentage of the population in B.C. rises, the risk of infection for everyone declines.
The B.C. government estimated in July that the , so Glacier Media's calculation is that 81.7% of B.C.'s total population has had at least one dose of vaccine, and 78.4% of the province's total population has had two doses.
The relatively small number of unvaccinated people continue to be the ones hardest hit by the pandemic.
Between November 11 and November 17, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 59.5% of cases, and between November 4 and November 17, those individuals accounted for 70.4% of hospitalizations, according to government data.
Older people also endure more serious bouts of COVID-19, which is why the government has required those who work in seniors' homes to be fully vaccinated. Nonetheless, B.C. has 21 active outbreaks at health-care facilities and seniors' homes.
One new health-care facility outbreak is at Laurier Manor in Prince George, while the outbreak at Rosemary Heights Seniors Village in Surrey is declared over.
The 497 new cases include:
• 138 in Fraser Health;
• 64 in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Coastal Health;
• 146 in Interior Health;
• 78 in Northern Health; and
• 71 in Island Health.
The 3,420 active cases include:
• 1,244 in Fraser Health;
• 511 in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Coastal Health;
• 657 in Interior Health;
• 498 in Northern Health; and
• 454 in Island Health. •
