As B.C.’s COVID-19 immunization program continues on, B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry expressed concerns about case numbers remaining at high levels.

Over the weekend, new case counts were all above 550 for each day.

Henry said that transmissions are primarily still happening in two main settings: at workplaces and in homes, especially in the Lower Mainland. She emphasized that all indoor gatherings of any size remain high risk.

Henry warned that the B117 (U.K.) variant is even “more transmissible” and that it is “much easier to spread it with even minimal contact in indoor settings”.

In addition, she said that increases in the numbers of younger people who require hospitalization or intensive care are particularly concerning.

Meanwhile, Henry also said that the latest AstraZeneca-SII vaccine trials from the U.S. have shown high effectiveness (79 percent), which is greater than what was previously reported.

B.C. update: March 19 to 22

Henry said that there was a total of 1,785 new cases (including two epi-linked cases) in B.C. over the past three time periods.

By day, that includes:

• 556 new cases from March 19 to 20;
• 598 new cases from March 20 to 21;
• 631 new cases from March 21 to 22.

By region, the total includes:

• 1,010 new cases in Fraser Health;
• 469 in Vancouver Coastal Health;
• 133 in Northern Health;
• 89 in Island Health;
• 84 in Interior Health;
• no one from outside of Canada.

Currently, there are 5,290 active cases, which is 83 more cases since March 19.

Hospitalized cases also increased. With 11 more people than March 19, there are now 303 patients, and 80 of them are in intensive care units.

Public health is monitoring 9,330 people, which is a decrease of 82 people since March 19.

Tragically, there were 16 deaths over the past three days. B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said there were nine deaths from March 19 to 20, four deaths from March 20 to 21, and three deaths from March 21 to 22.

By region, Dix said there were 10 deaths in Fraser Health, five deaths in Northern Health, and one death in Interior Health.

The total number of fatalities in B.C. from COVID-19-related causes during the pandemic is now at 1,437 people who have died.

Over the past three days, 1,668 people recovered, which increases the cumulative total to 85,746 recoveries.

B.C. has recorded a cumulative total of 92,571 cases during the pandemic.

Vaccines and variants

Henry said there have been 166 new variants cases over the past three days, which raises the cumulative total to 1,366 cases.

Of those total cases, 237 are active cases.

The total includes:

• 1,240 cases of the B117 (U.K.) variant (with most cases in Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health according to Henry);
• 85 cases of the P1 (Brazil) variant (Henry said there were 20 new cases);
• 41 cases of the B1351 (South Africa) variant.

Henry added that two clusters of the P1 variant have been identified.

By region, that includes:

• 1,047 cases in Fraser Health;
• 276 in Vancouver Coastal Health;
• 30 in Interior Health (which Henry said includes 10 new cases);
• eight in Island Health;
• five in Northern Health.

Currently, 23 variant cases are in hospitals. She said that they have not seen any increases in hospitalizations or deaths due to the variants.

As of today, 539,408 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca-SII vaccines have been administered in B.C., and 87,161 of those are second doses.

Regarding health reactions to vaccinations, Henry said that there have been 494 adverse events in B.C. Of those reactions, 50 were anaphylaxis, or allergic reactions.

Outbreaks and exposures

Henry said there aren’t any new healthcare outbreaks.

Fraser Health declared the outbreak over at Chilliwack General Hospital.

Henry said there are 11 active outbreaks in healthcare facilities, including four in longterm care facilities and seven in acute care facilities.

There also aren’t any new community outbreaks.

Northern Health announced on March 21 that the community outbreak at the Pretium Resources Brucejack Mine, located north of Stewart, has been declared over (it was originally declared on February 10). In this outbreak, there were a total of 51 cases, with one death.

None of the five regional health authorities added any new public exposure events to their lists.

Food stores and flights

McDonald’s listed three locations which had staff members who tested positive:

• one employee who last worked on March 15 at the 7005 120^th location in Delta;
• one employee who last worked on March 18 at the 800–800 15th Street East location in Prince Albert;
• one employee who last worked on March 20 at the 3465 Saanich Road location in Victoria.

Sobeys added four stores to its list of locations with staff members who tested positive.

Two stores were Safeway locations:

• one employee who tested positive last worked on March 14 at the 200–2 Avenue West location in Prince Rupert, where five employees were previously reported to have tested positive; 
• an employee who tested positive last worked on March 16 at the 45610 Luckakuck Way location in Chilliwack.

The other two stores were Thrifty Foods locations:

• one employee who tested positive last worked on March 15 at 11895 226th Street location in Maple Ridge;
• an employee who tested positive last worked on March 16 at the 70 Brew Street location in Port Moody.

Loblaw added six stores to its list of location with staff members who tested positive.

One location was Shoppers Drug Mart at 4827 Kingsway in Burnaby, where an employee who tested positive last worked on March 18.

The other five stores were Real Canadian Superstore locations:

• an employee who tested positive last worked on March 9 at the 2332 160th Street location in Surrey;
• one employee who tested positive last worked on March 15 at the 2855 Gladwin Road location in Abbotsford;
• one employee who tested positive last worked on March 15 at the 2155 Ferry Avenue location in Prince George;
• three employees who tested positive last worked on March 16, 17, and 18 at the 8195 120th Street location in Delta;
• several employees (number and dates not specified) from the 7550 King George Boulevard location in Surrey have tested positive.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) added the following 19 flights to its lists of public exposures:

• March 10: Air Canada 314, Vancouver to Montreal;
• March 10: Air India 185, Delhi to Vancouver;
• March 12: Air Canada 311, Montreal to Vancouver;
• March 14: Air Canada 106, Vancouver to Toronto;
• March 14: Air Canada 124, Vancouver to Toronto;
• March 14: WestJet 164, Vancouver to Edmonton;
• March 14: Air Canada 124, Vancouver to Toronto;
• March 14: Air Canada 242, Vancouver to Edmonton;
• March 15: Air Canada/Jazz 8181, Vancouver to Fort St. John;
• March 15: Air Canada 225, Calgary to Vancouver;
• March 15: Air Canada 242, Vancouver to Edmonton;
• March 15, WestJet 3307, Fort St. John to Calgary;
• March 16: Air Canada 8245, Terrace to Vancouver;
• March 16: Swoop 182, Abbotsford to Edmonton;
• March 17: Air Canada 45, Delhi to Vancouver;
• March 17: Air India 185, Delhi to Vancouver;
• March 17: Air Canada/Jazz 8182, Fort St. John to Vancouver;
• March 18: WestJet 711, Vancouver to Kelowna;
• March 19: Air Canada 45, Delhi to Vancouver.

Affected row information is available at the BCCDC website.