Northern Health sees 60 new COVID-19 cases, unvaccinated leading B.C.’s surge

COVID-19 cases are holding strong in the region, with Northern Health reporting 60 new cases in the past 24 hours. 

There’s also now 479 total active cases in the reigion, while B.C. is reporting 655 total new cases.

Northern health has 15 people currently hospitalized with the virus and 12 are in critical care.

Throughout B.C. there are 6,045 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and of those active cases, 187 individuals are in hospital and 103 are in intensive care.  

Those wards have not been as filled with COVID-19 patients since May 21.

The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

While there has been no new deaths in Northern Health In the past 24 hours, two new deaths in Island Health have been reported, for an overall total of 1,816.

New data that the B.C government released today (Aug. 31) also backs up health officials assertions that unvaccinated people are driving the province’s fourth wave.

Perhaps the most striking set of statistics includes data from mid-to-late August, which showed that people who are unvaccinated are:
• 12 times more likely to contract COVID-19 than those who have had two vaccine doses;
• 34 times more likely to land in hospital with COVID-19 than those who have had two vaccine doses; and
• eight times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those who have had two vaccine doses.

Data for that finding came from August 20 through 26 for cases, and August 17 though 23 for hospitalizations and deaths. 

The other key lesson in new government data is that older people continue to be more susceptible to serious bouts of COVID-19, and to die from the illness.

The 80-to-90 age group saw 11 deaths between July 30 and August 26. The second highest age group for deaths was for those aged between 70 and 79 years, which had seven deaths. 

Data from July 30 through August 26 also showed that among people who were younger than 60 years old, no one who was fully vaccinated died from COVID-19. 

In contrast, among the partially vaccinated, there was one person younger than 60 years old who died from COVID-19 in that time period. That person was in the 40-to-49 age group.

Among the unvaccinated, there were six people who were younger than 60 years old who died from COVID-19 between July 30 and August 26. Of those, five were in the 50-to-59 age group, and one was in the 40-to-49 age group.

This is despite most British Columbians being fully vaccinated during this time frame. 

Similar government data showed that new cases and hospitalizations were more likely among those who were unvaccinated. When fully vaccinated people did have serious bouts of COVID-19, it tended to be among older people. 

"This tells us that vaccines are working," said provincial health officer Bonnie Henry. "They're preventing thousands of cases and hospitalizations from occurring, because they are protecting people across the age spectrum. They're making a difference."

Both she and Health Minister Adrian Dix stressed that the rate that COVID-19 is now spreading is much too high. 

"We see fewer people in the hospital right now than we did at the height of the third wave, where I think it reached about 503," Dix said. "We're seeing that we're at about a third of that level. It has still put significant pressure on those [hospital systems] regionally."

As of Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, 84.3 per cent  of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 76.5 per cent received their second dose.

In addition, 85.0 per cent of all eligible adults in B.C. have received their first dose and 77.6 per cent received their second dose. 

- with files from Glen Kortstrom, Business in Vancouver