44 COVID deaths in B.C. over long weekend

Forty-four people died from COVID over the long weekend in B.C., bringing the pandemic total to 2,830.

Seven of those deaths were in the Interior Health region, according to a news release issued by the Ministry of Health today, Feb. 22.

There are 688 people in B.C. hospitals today with a COVID positive test, down from 733 on Friday. The number in intensive care dropped to 108 today from 113 on Friday.

About half the of people in hospital with a COVID diagnosis were not in there because of COVID but were tested after going to hospital for things like surgery, delivering a baby or being admitted to a mental health unit.

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There were 2,103 new cases reported in B.C. over the past four days, including 631 on Saturday, 571 on Sunday, 424 on Monday and 477 in the last 24 hours.

Of those new cases, 610 were in the Interior Health region, 615 in Fraser Health, 326 in Vancouver Coastal, 337 on Vancouver Island and 215 in the Northern Health region.

The real number of cases is estimated to be three to four times higher because many people infected with COVID are not getting tested or take rapid tests that are not recorded in these figures.

The vaccination rate for people over the age of 12 was unchanged at 93.2% with at least one dose as was the case with the 90.6% with at least two doses. The number of people with three doses increased by one percentage point to 54.9%

There was one new outbreak at a care home in the Interior Health region, at the Williams Lake Seniors Village. The outbreaks at Mountainview Village, Noric House, Poplar Ridge and Pinegrove Care Centre, all in Interior Health, have been declared over.

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