New case counts drop again, hospitalization and ICU stays still high in final COVID report for the week

With a case count for the day trending below 750, today's statement from Doctor Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian offers up some hope that we have begun to turn back the worrisome numbers of just a week ago. 

Though to serve as a reminder of the serious nature of current station, the level of hospitalization and ICU use in the province is still at stubbornly high amounts.

The Friday report also notes of the new travel measures, which will in effect keep British Columbians in regional bubbles until the May  Long weekend, todays notes were posted to the BC government website late Friday afternoon.

“Today, we are reporting 740 new cases, for a total of 129,482 cases in British Columbia. 

There are 7,886 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 11,727 people under public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases. A further 119,785 people who tested positive have recovered. 

Of the active cases, 511 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 174 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. 

There have been four new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,581 deaths in British Columbia. Our condolences are with the family, friends and caregivers of the people who have died as a result of COVID-19." 

Across the province the totals from the five regional Health Authority regions were as follows: 163 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 431 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 32 in the Island Health region, 92 in the Interior Health region, 

There were  22 new cases reported today in the Northern Health region, that brings the Northern BC total count since January 2020 to 7,163 cases of COVID-19.

No new cases of COVID were reported by people one British Columbia who reside outside of Canada. 

As for the vaccination program, the two top health officials noted that 1,786,722 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C., 90,642 of which are second doses. 

That means that as of this week,  nearly 40% of eligible people in B.C. have received their first dose.

The final focus for the lead in to the weekend was on travel and a reminder of restrictions and the need to again remain close to our own communities.

“This weekend, remember to follow the non-essential travel restrictions as we all continue to do our part to keep our loved ones and communities safe.”

Earlier in the day, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth expanded on the background to the regulations that will be in effect until after the May long weekend period.

The full COVID statement for Friday can be reviewed here.

BC CDC data for British Columbia for April 30, 2021

BC CDC data for Northern Health Region for April 30, 2021

The BC Centre for Disease control has some valuable Coronavirus notes related to COVID-19 you can explore that information here.

You can learn more about the outbreak from both the Province and the Federal government from the links below:

Federal Government site

British Columbia Government site

The World Health Organization website also offers up the latest advisories on the global situation.

More from  Northern Health can be reviewed here 

You can review our archive of past statements and local information here.   

Local governments and organizations have also provided for increased awareness of COVID-19 issues, those past advisories  can be reviewed here.

For notes from across Canada and British Columbia we have been archiving the latest items through our political portal Darcy McGee

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