B.C. public health teams reported another 468 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection on Thursday, as the number of pandemic-related fatalities continued to be high.
There were nine additional deaths in the 24 hours up to Nov. 18, five of them in the Fraser Health region, two in Northern Health and one each in Interior and Island Health. The death rate in the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic has remained higher than earlier surges of the pandemic, even as daily case counts have declined this fall, mostly people 80 or older.
There have been no new outbreaks in the health care system in the past 24 hours. One at the Queen’s Park Care Centre in New Westminster has been declared over, leaving 21 outbreaks in the system, including at Abbotsford, Maple Ridge and Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.
From Nov. 10-16, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 60.4% of cases, out of the roughly 13% of the eligible people aged 12 and older who don’t have two doses of vaccine. From Nov. 3-16, they accounted for 70.3% of hospitalizations.
B.C. health authorities continue to operate scheduled appointment COVID-19 vaccination clinics around the province. A full list of clinic locations and hours by region can be found here. Registration and booking appointments in B.C. can be done here, or by calling 1-833-838-2323 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. seven days a week.
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New and active cases by health region for Nov. 18:
• 173 new cases in Fraser Health, 1,220 active
• 69 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health, 505 active
• 85 new cases in Interior Health, 612 active
• 68 new cases in Northern Health, 489 active
• 72 new cases in Island Health, 460 active
• one new case of a person who resides outside of Canada, 59 active
@tomfletcherbc
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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