There are 129 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the Northern Health region which brings the current number of active cases to 943.
There are currently 64 people hospitalized with COVID-19 and 21 in critical care within Northern Health.
Yesterday the provincial government announced it’s allocated 15 ICU beds in Vancouver and Victoria to take patients from overcrowded hospitals in Northern Health.
Ten beds in Vancouver and five in Victoria will be allocated to Northern Health patients.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said the north has been overstretched by COVID-19 creating huge pressure on the healthcare system in Prince George.
"There is a huge pressure on the University Hospital of Northern B.C. in Prince George. When you have six times the number of COVID cases per capita as Vancouver Coastal (Health), that is a problem.”
The Ministry of Health is making a commitment to ensure those people will be transported back home when they are well enough or hospital beds become available again.
Last week, the province had to cancel 511 non-urgent surgeries – including 167 procedures in the Northern Health region – because of the strain the pandemic has put on hospitals
Province-wide, B.C. is reporting 759 new cases of COVID-19 and 10 new deaths in the past 24 hours. However, none of the deaths have occurred in Northern Health.
The COVID-19 death toll in B.C. is now 1,910.
There are 5,458 active cases in the province with 324 individuals in the hospital with 157 in intensive care.
The remaining people are at home recovering in self-isolation.
The province is also battling 23 health care facility active outbreaks including two in Northern Health at Jubilee Lodge in Prince George and Fort St. John Hospital.
As of Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, 87.1 per cent or 4,038,966 of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 79.7 per cent or 3,692,922 received their second dose.
In addition, 87.7 per cent 3,792,240 of all eligible adults in B.C. have received their first dose and 80.5 per cent 3,482,742 received their second dose.
