The Terrace local health area (LHA) saw a slight increase to 86 new COVID-19 cases during the week of Jan. 23 to Jan. 29, compared to 81 the week before.
Smithers saw a decrease in new cases for the second straight week, going from 131 to 81 new cases, according to British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) data.
There were 33 new cases in Kitimat, 79 in Prince Rupert, six on Haida Gwaii, 20 in the Upper Skeena LHA and 6 in the Snow Country - Stikine - Telegraph Creek LHA. The Nisga’a LHA recorded two new cases.
Since the Omicron variant began spreading quickly in B.C., the completed tests represent a fraction of the actual infections, based on test positivity rates for the samples that have been processed.
Third doses of COVID-19 vaccines are being distributed in clinics and pharmacies around the northwest, with Haida Gwaii and Nisga’a LHAs leading the region in percentage of people aged 12 and up with three doses. See the Feb. 1 list below, with weekly change from Jan. 25 indicated by brackets.
Haida Gwaii — 52 per cent (+2)
Nisga’a — 45 per cent (+1)
Kitimat — 45 per cent (+2)
Terrace — 44 per cent (+2)
Prince Rupert — 44 per cent (+4)
Snow Country - Stikine - Telegraph Creek — 43 per cent (+1)
Upper Skeena — 42 per cent (+0)
Smithers — 37 per cent (+3)
There were 988 people in hospital with COVID-19 as of Feb. 2, with half of those admitted for other conditions and then testing positive for the now-dominant Omicron variant. That is down from 1,035 in the past 24 hours. There are 136 people in critical care with active infections, down from 139 on Tuesday.
The latest data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control show 44 per cent of B.C. patients testing positive for COVID-19 after admission to hospital since Dec. 1, and were admitted for other conditions and had either mild or no respiratory symptoms. For cases where Omicron is identified as the infection variant, the tests show 60 per cent of hospital admissions are for reasons other than COVID-19 during December and January.
READ MORE: StatCan: COVID-19 the third leading cause of death in 2020
— With files from Tom Fletcher