661 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed across B.C. Wednesday with Island Health reporting 61. (BC Government)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

NEW CASES

61 new COVID-19 cases, two deaths for Island Health

Sep 15, 2021 | 5:07 PM

NANAIMO — Island Health’s COVID-19 case counts rose by 61 on Wednesday, Sept. 15, in line with recent averages over several weeks.

Twenty-seven of the new cases were in the central Vancouver Island region, which leads Island Health in active and total cases. A total of 7,432 cases have been recorded in the health authority since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Active cases with Island Health increased by four from Tuesday’s update, to 531 including 255 on the central Island.

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

The BC Centre for Disease Control reports 24 people are admitted to Vancouver Island hospitals, including 15 in critical care.

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Provincially, a further 661 new cases were confirmed by public health.

Active cases across B.C. dropped to 5,791 with 288 people hospitalized including 137 people receiving critical care.

Seven deaths linked to COVID-19 were reported on Wednesday, including two from the Island Health region. To date, 1,873 people have lost their lives due to the pandemic including 58 from Island Health.

Unvaccinated individuals continue to account for a vast majority of new cases and hospitalizations.

Just under 70 per cent of all cases between Sept. 7-13 were in people with no vaccination history. Almost 82 per cent of hospitalizations through the first two weeks of September were also among those unvaccinated.

Data from public health suggests people who remain unvaccinated are 38 times more likely to be hospitalized than those who are fully vaccinated.

Over 7.6 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the province since December 2020.

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