British Columbia officials say there are 64 health-care facilities across the province that have COVID-19 outbreaks — including 26 on Vancouver Island.
A statement from the Health Ministry released Monday says they include six new outbreaks, most of them in long-term care, but also in hospitals and assisted-living facilities.
One of the new outbreaks was in Nanaimo, at Chartwell Malaspina Care Residence, where three residents have tested positive for COVID-19. The outbreak has been limited to the Sandpiper unit.
Royal Jubilee Hospital is among the acute-care facilities affected.
At The Heights at Mt. View in Victoria, where one staff member and one resident fell ill, the outbreak has been declared over. The facility is owned and operated by Baptist Housing.
The province reported 4,997 new infections of COVID-19 over a three-day period starting Friday, although officials have warned that the number of cases may be up to five times higher because B.C. has reached its testing capacity. Of the active cases, they say 987 people are in hospital and 129 in intensive care.
Island Health reported 626 confirmed cases. Eighty-one people in the region are in hospital with COVID, including 11 in intensive care.
The province reported 24 deaths for a total of 2,553 fatalities since the start of the pandemic.
They say 89.6 per cent of eligible people five and older have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 83.6 per cent have had their second shot.
— With The Canadian Press
