Over the long weekend, seven people in the Northern Health region lost their lives due to COVID-19.
There were also 351 new cases reported in Northern Health over the four-day period and there are 833 total active cases in the region.
Province-wide there have been 2,090 new cases of COVID-19 and there are now 5,183 active cases in B.C.
Of the active cases, 357 individuals are in hospital and 153 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
In Northern Health there are 84 people currently hospitalized and 22 of them are in critical care.
In the past 96 hours the province also saw 28 new deaths, including the seven in Northern Health, for an overall total of 2,029.
There are also 19 active healthcare facility outbreaks throughout the province including at the University Hospital of Northern B.C. in Prince George.
However, the workplace and communal-living outbreak in Fort St. John at Site C in Northern Health has been declared over.
The province is also reporting that from Oct. 4-10, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 68.1 per cent of cases and from Sept. 27-Oct. 10, they accounted for 73.7 per cent of hospitalizations.
Northern Health Authority will be holding a vaccine clinic outside the main entrance of the CN Centre from 3:00-7:00 pm before the Prince George Cougars Hockey Game. The clinic is open to anyone eligible (over 12 years old) for their first or second dose and those receiving their first dose will be able to attend the game.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry also announced today that children ages five and up will now be required to wear masks in public indoor places.
The measure comes about a week after kids in the province’s K-12 school system began being required to wear masks in the classroom.
The extension of mask mandates to children in public spaces includes everything from malls to buses, and from restaurants to retail locations.
Meanwhile, Tuesday marks the first day workers at B.C.’s assisted living and long-term care facilities must be vaccinated against COVID-19 or else face being suspended from work without pay.
Just under 2,000 workers in B.C. care homes and assisted living facilities have been pushed onto unpaid leave as the province’s vaccine mandate for seniors.
An increasing number of workers throughout the province face such mandates, with TransLink revealing Friday workers at the transportation authority will need to be fully vaccinated by November 29.
Provincial public servants need to get both jabs by Nov. 22 and health-care workers across the province — not just those working in long-term care and assisted living — have also been mandated to be fully vaccinated by the end of this month.
- with files from Tyler Orton, Business in Vancouver
