One case of the new, fast-spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19 has been detected in the Northern Health region, the B.C. Ministry of Health reported on Tuesday.
A total of 44 cases of the Omicron variant, classified as a variant of concern, have been detected to date in B.C. – 24 in the Fraser Health region, 11 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, five in Island Health, three in Interior Health and one in the north.
The ministry reported 34 new cases of COVID-19 in the Northern Health region on Tuesday, and the number of active cases in the north dropped to 213.
No new COVID-related deaths were reported in the province on Tuesday. The pandemic has claimed a total of 266 lives in the Northern Health region since the outset in March 2020.
Fifteen people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the Northern Health region as of Tuesday, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported. Of those 15, eight were listed in intensive care.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 18,089 cases of COVID-19 in the north, of which 17,603 people have recovered.
As the Omicron variant begins to spread in B.C., the province hit a milestone in its vaccination campaign. As of Tuesday, more than nine million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to British Columbians, including 411,509 in the Northern Health region.
As of Tuesday, 86.6 per cent of British Columbians age five and older have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine, and 82.4 per cent have gotten a second dose. Fourteen per cent of adults have also received a third, booster dose.
In the Prince George local health area, 15 per cent of children aged five to 11 had received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, the B.C. CDC reported. Eighty-eight per cent of people 12 years old and older had received at least one dose of vaccine and 83 per cent had two doses.
The B.C. CDC reported that 58 per cent of people aged 70 and up in the Prince George area had received their third booster shot.
