Health Notes

COVID-19 in B.C.: Record total of new cases—4,383—over 24 hours but no change in intensive-care numbers

by Charlie Smith on December 30th, 2021 at 7:31 PM
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      With the Omicron variant spreading rapidly in B.C., some might wonder about the accuracy of COVID-19 statistics.

      After all, a fair number of people who are not immunocompromised are not getting tested if they're experiencing minor symptoms. They are simply staying home, as per Dr. Bonnie Henry's recommendation, and plan to seek treatment if their symptoms deteriorate.

      Even though this is the case, B.C. still set a single-day record for new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours. There were 4,383 new cases, shattering yesterday's record of 2,944 new cases.

      This has lifted the number of active cases to a new record: 16,014.

      Despite the rising case numbers, there was no increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care today compared to yesterday. There are still 66 people in these wards.

      The number of hospitalizations rose from 206 to 211. 

      There was one more death from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, increasing the provincewide total to 2,420.

      So far, there have been 2,825 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. This is where they've been distributed:

      • Fraser Health: 777
      • Vancouver Coastal Health: 1,333
      • Interior Health: 152
      • Northern Health: 13
      • Island Health: 548
      • Unknown: two

      Meanwhile, a study in South African has suggested that the Johnson & Johnson booster shot was 84 percent effective in preventing health-care workers from being hospitalized with the Omicron variant, according to Reuters.

      Data insights

      Data analyst Jens von Bergmann has tweeted a series of charts about B.C.'s COVID-19 numbers.

      "Still lots of unknowns, some due to uncertainties around Omicron, some due to B.C. government refusing to share relevant information," von Bermann cautioned in one twet. "Time to sit tight, reduce contacts, and just generally lay low for a while if you are able to."

      You can see von Bergmann's charts below.

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