The breakdown is similar in Interior Health, with 89 cases of the B.1.1.7 (United Kingdom) variant, 70 cases of the P.1 (Brazil) variant and one case of the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant. While three COVID-19 variants of concern have been detected in B.C., there are other variants confirmed elsewhere, including at least two distinct variants fist detected in California and another variant pegged to Arizona. According to health experts, the California and Arizona variants spread more easily and some current treatments and vaccines may not work as well on them. The BCCDC also notes there are other variants that have been identified and are being monitored for their impacts. They are referred to as variants under investigation and include two variants first detected in New York state in late 2020.
Image Credit: Province of British Columbia April 13, 2021 - 4:45 PM Another 873 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in B.C. and two more people have died, while the number of patients hospitalized reached an all-time high, health officials said today. With these new cases, there have been 113,702 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and 9,756 of the cases are active. Additionally, 377 people are now hospitalized with COVID-19, with 116 of whom in intensive care, Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said in a joint statement issued today, April 13. Yesterday, Minister Dix said hospitals had the capacity for this surge in cases.
Her first vaccination dose coincides with news that arose about blood-clotting cases linked to two vaccines.
U.S. health officials announced that the use of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine has been suspended during a health investigation into six cases of “rare and severe” blood clots that occurred in women between 18 and 48 years of age.
This vaccine has not yet been shipped to Canada.
Meanwhile, the first case of blood-clotting from the AstraZeneca vaccine ( the COVIDSHIELD version from the Serum Institute of India) was reported in Canada today.
Health Canada stated that it will continue to closely monitor the situation, adding that it “continues to consider that the benefits of the AstraZeneca and COVISHIELD vaccines to protect against COVID-19 outweigh the potential risks”.
Posted:
April 13, 2021
B.C.’s COVID-19 updates for April 13
Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, today (April 13) issued the following joint statement regarding updates on the COVID-19 response in British Columbia.
Today, we are reporting 873 new cases, for a total of 113,702 cases in British Columbia. Due to a delay in the Public Health Reporting Data Warehouse (PHRDW) lab system, these numbers are preliminary and may be adjusted once confirmed with PHRDW data.
There are 9,756 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 16,290 people under public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases. A further 102,268 people who tested positive have recovered.