The BC CDC is reporting 28 new cases in the Golden area for the week of Aug. 29 to Sep. 4, the first week in almost a month where cases have started to decline.
Despite the decline, Golden still has amongst the highest case rates in Interior Health, ranking in fifth with a case rate of 40 new infections per population of 100,000 in the last seven days.
Dr. Trina Larsen Soles of the Physicians of Golden said in a Sept. 2 Facebook post that during the most recent surge, the doctors have seen patients sick enough to require treatment at the hospital. Hospitalizations continue to rise across the province, with the majority of those in hospital being unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.
The post also spoke to the recent protests that have erupted across the province, calling the demonstrations ‘demoralizing’ for health care workers who have been on the frontlines since the start of the pandemic.
“Health care staff, who are generally burned out and extremely fatigued while battling wave 4, were deeply hurt and demoralized by these events,”she wrote.
“It is obvious that basic human kindness and consideration are not a priority for this group.”
In Golden, 85 per cent of those aged 12+ have at least one dose of the vaccine, and 76 per cent are considered fully immunized.
Cases and hospitalizations continue to disproportionately be in those unvaccinated since the BC CDC started reporting that data.
Based on last week’s data, compared with fully vaccinated individuals and after adjusting for age differences, unvaccinated individuals are 11 times more likely to become a case, 31 times more likely to be hospitalized and four times more likely to die.
New deaths continue to be low in the province.
Variants of concern account for 100 per cent of all positives tests in B.C. now, with Delta accounting for 99.5 per cent of all cases.
B.C.’s vaccine passport comes into effect next week, with proof of partial vaccination required starting Sept. 13 and full vaccination by Oct. 24.
Maps of new cases reported each week in each local health area can be found on the BC Centre for Disease Control website under BC COVID-19 data. Also available are graphs from the BCCDC Comparisons App showing how each health authority is doing in terms of positive test rates by month.
Vaccine appointments can be booked online, or over the phone by calling 1-833-838-2323.
