Northern Health adds 346 cases, two deaths over weekend, more ICU patients moved south for care

NOTE: The numbers of total and new cases are provisional due to a delayed data refresh and will be verified once confirmed.

VICTORIA, B.C. – The Northern Health region added 346 cases on the weekend, bringing the active case count to 965.

There are 79 people in hospital, 18 of whom are in critical care.

There were two COVID-19 deaths over the weekend, bringing the regional total to 176.

Of the 12,312 cases recorded since last spring, 11,089 have recovered.

The region added 1,863 vaccine doses since Friday, moving the total dose count to 356,843. Of those, 165,222 are second doses.

British Columbia recorded 1,986 cases over the weekend, including 662 from Sunday to Monday. The active case count in the province is 5,986.

There are 326 people in hospital, 142 are in critical care.

There were 10 COVID-19 deaths on the weekend, bringing the provincial total to 1,983.

Out of 189,680 cases recorded since last March, 181,304 have recovered.

The province added 31,185 vaccine doses since Friday, moving B.C.’s total dose count to 7,884,070. Of those, 3,874,277 are second doses.

As of Monday, 88.2 per cent of eligible British Columbians over 12 have received one vaccine dose, while 81.6 per cent have received both doses.

Health Minister Dix says 32 people have been moved from ICU beds in Northern Health to hospitals in the Vancouver Island, Fraser, and Coastal health authorities due to capacity issues.

According to Dix, 26 of the 32 are COVID-19 patients, and none of them are fully vaccinated.

The Province announced it would be moving patients from Northern Health to other zones that could better handle the critical care patients on September 21st.

“Clearly, this is less than ideal. It will be difficult for those patients and their families and their loved ones, but these are necessary steps to ensure people in the north have access to quality care and to support our healthcare workers in the north,” said Dix.