Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says B.C.'s COVID-19 trend is headed in the right direction. (flickr/Gov't of B.C.)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

COVID update

Reduced COVID transmissions ease pressure on B.C. hospitals

May 6, 2021 | 2:01 PM

NANAIMO — An upbeat provincial health officer shared more positive COVID-19 trends during her latest media briefing.

Dr. Bonnie Henry on Thursday, May 6 said pressure is noticably easing as the number of hospitalized patients fall.

“This is a huge relief to many of us, to our colleagues who are working so diligently every day,” she said.

There are 457 British Columbians currently in B.C. hospitals, while 154 are receiving critical or intensive care. They’re among 6,802 active cases across B.C.

One week before, 503 people were hospitalized and 178 were receiving intensive care.

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The number of people in care spiked in early April as the third wave of COVID-19 reached its peak.

Dr. Henry announced 694 new cases for B.C., well down from the 1,000 case mark consistently reached in late March and early April.

“It is incredibly encouraging to see our immunizations going up and our rates of transmission ever so slowly bending down,” Dr. Henry said.

She reported one new COVID-related death in the province for a total of 1,595.

Island Health reported 17 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, including six in the central Island area.

Active cases for the health authority dropped by eight to 187 including an unchanged 74 on the central Island.

There is a data discrepancy between Island Health and the province, based on the timing of COVID-19 results. NanaimoNewsNOW reports local verified data from Island Health.

Dr. Henry noted the continually ramped up mass vaccination program in B.C. will see its two millionth shot administered Thursday.

She said public health is moving quickly down the age cohorts for mass vaccinations with significantly more vaccines arriving.

People 49-years-old and up can book their appointments as of Thursday, while added capacity will see people at least 40-years-old the ability to book their first shots as of Tuesday, May 11.

All mass vaccinations can be arranged online at www.gov.bc.ca/getvaccinated.

Dr. Henry said public health officials are working to determine when and how to begin administering the Pfizer/BionTech vaccine approved by Health Canada for people as young as 12-years-old.

She reported the first case in the province of a rare blood clot reaction from the AstraZenica vaccine has sickened a woman in her 40’s. The woman is in stable condition in hospital, Henry said.

Dr. Henry said the latest information showed the adverse reaction to the AstraZenica shot occurs once in every 100,000 doses.

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