Twenty-four British Columbians not vaccinated from COVID-19 are currently in intensive care battling the infectious respiratory illness, health officials confirmed amid a concerning rise in cases.
There were 464 new COVID cases confirmed in B.C. Friday, bringing the total number of active cases to 2,411. A further 52 people are in hospital.
A lions share of the new infections, 275, are located in Interior Health, particularly within the Central Okanagan where B.C. health officials announced 464 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the seven-day rolling average of new cases to its highest since the end of May.
The case breakdown by region is as follows: 275 new cases in Interior Health, which has 1,356 active cases. 72 new cases in Fraser Health, which has 486 active cases. The B.C. Centre for Disease Control map ob show that there is only one active case in Burns Lake, none in Smithers which includes the Houston area as of July 31.
Eryn Collins, Regional Manager at Northern Health, told Lakes District News that the delta variant is a growing issue. “The majority of confirmed cases in B.C., and therefore hospitalizations and deaths, are now from variants of concern.”
Collins explained that getting vaccinated is the best defense against the Delta variant. “Current vaccines are working well against all of the variants of covid in B.C., and two doses of the vaccine provide very good protection against the Delta variant, especially against severe outcomes,” She said. “Being fully vaccinated provides more protection against most variants of concern than a single dose. We continue to encourage Northerners to get their first and second doses of vaccine at the earliest opportunity.”