New COVID-19 cases doubled in the Terrace local health area (LHA) to 109 during the week of Jan. 2 to Jan. 8, compared to 54 cases the week before.
Almost every LHA in northwest B.C. saw a jump in new cases, with Smithers recording 196, the most overall in the northwest according to British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) data.
There were 63 new cases in Kitimat, 72 in Prince Rupert, 27 on Haida Gwaii, 28 in the Upper Skeena LHA and 13 in the Snow Country - Stikine - Telegraph Creek LHA. The Nisga’a LHA recorded zero.
Hazelton Secondary School was one of two in the province to stop in-person classes and enter “functional closure” by switching to online instruction due to staffing issues caused by illness.
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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 Jan. 11 list below, with weekly change from Jan. 4 indicated by brackets.
Haida Gwaii — 46 per cent (+3)
Nisga’a — 43 per cent (+1)
Upper Skeena — 36 per cent (+4)
Snow Country - Stikine - Telegraph Creek — 34 per cent (+2)
Terrace — 33 per cent (+7)
Kitimat — 31 per cent (+7)
Prince Rupert — 25 per cent (+5)
Smithers — 23 per cent (+5)
With almost 90 per cent of B.C. adults having had two doses of vaccine, from Jan. 4-10, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 20.1 per cent of cases. From Dec. 28 to Jan. 10, they accounted for 35.9 per cent of hospitalizations.
B.C. health authorities continue to operate scheduled appointment COVID-19 vaccination clinics around the province for residents age five and older. Registration and booking appointments in B.C. can be done online here, or by calling 1-833-838-2323 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., seven days a week.
— With files from Tom Fletcher and the Canadian Press