The dreaded Omicron virus is hitting BC hard with Tuesday’s COVID-19 numbers dramatically rising to above 1300 with one new death. B.C. is reporting 1,308 new cases of COVID-19, including 10 new epi-linked cases, for a total of 229,643 cases in the province. There are 6,348 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 220,741 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 192 individuals are in hospital and 76 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

By DESIBUZZCanada Staff

VICTORIA – The dreaded Omicron virus is hitting BC hard with Tuesday’s COVID-19 numbers dramatically rising to above 1300 with one new death.

As of Tuesday, Dec. 21, 87.5% (4,359,335) of eligible people five and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 82.7% (4,120,332) have received their second dose.

In addition, 91.7% (4,252,249) of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, 88.9% (4,120,270) received their second dose and 16% (744,549) have received a third dose.

Also, 92.1% (3,984,161) of all eligible adults in B.C. have received their first dose, 89.4% (3,865,665) have received their second dose and 17% (743,778) have received a third dose.

B.C. is reporting 1,308 new cases of COVID-19, including 10 new epi-linked cases, for a total of 229,643 cases in the province.

There are 6,348 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 220,741 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 192 individuals are in hospital and 76 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

The new/active cases include:

* 419 new cases in Fraser Health
* Total active cases: 2,024

* 525 new cases in Vancouver Coastal Health
* Total active cases: 2,326

* 138 new cases in Interior Health
* Total active cases: 695

* 23 new cases in Northern Health
* Total active cases: 186

* 202 new cases in Island Health
* Total active cases: 1,116

* one new case of a person who resides outside of Canada
* Total active cases: one

In the last 24 hours, one new death (Northern Health) has been reported, for an overall total of 2,403.

There have been 756 cases of the Omicron variant of concern identified in B.C.:

* Fraser Health: 129

* Vancouver Coastal Health: 413

* Interior Health: eight

* Northern Health: two

* Island Health: 204

There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks. There is one active outbreak in:

* long-term care:
* none

* acute care:
* Lions Gate Hospital (Vancouver Coastal Health)

* assisted or independent living:
* none

From Dec. 13-19, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 30.7% of cases.
From Dec. 6-19, they accounted for 71.7% of hospitalizations.

Past week cases (Dec. 13-19) - Total 5,066

* Not vaccinated: 1,487 (29.4%)

* Partially vaccinated: 66 (1.3%)

* Fully vaccinated: 3,513 (69.3%)

Past two weeks cases hospitalized (Dec. 6-19) - Total 141

* Not vaccinated: 95 (67.4%)

* Partially vaccinated: 6 (4.3%)

* Fully vaccinated: 40 (28.4%)

Past week, cases per 100,000 population after adjusting for age (Dec. 13-19)

* Not vaccinated: 201.7

* Partially vaccinated: 33.1

* Fully vaccinated: 77.3

Past two weeks, cases hospitalized per 100,000 population after adjusting for age (Dec. 6-19)

* Not vaccinated: 21.8

* Partially vaccinated: 5.0

* Fully vaccinated: 0.9

Since December 2020, the Province has administered 9,190,914 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Pfizer Pediatric COVID-19 vaccines.