COVID-19 Update for September 23: BC Reports 861 New Cases and Five Deaths | Chilliwack Elementary School Closes Due to Outbreak | ‘Resentful but resigned’: vaccine stocks reappear

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Here’s your daily update with everything you need to know about the novel coronavirus situation in British Columbia for September 23, 2021.

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We will provide summaries of what is happening in BC right here so you can get the latest news at a glance. This page will be updated periodically throughout the day, and updates will be added as they happen.

Check back here for more updates throughout the day. You can also get the latest COVID-19 news delivered to your inbox on weekends at 7pm by signing up for our newsletter. here.

BC COVID-19 CASE NUMBERS

According to the latest figures given on September 22:

• Total number of confirmed cases: 181,798 (5,726 active cases)
• New cases since September 22: 861
• Total deaths: 1,915 (five additional deaths)
• Hospitalized cases: 330
• Intensive care: 148 (nine less)
• Total vaccinations: 4,038,966 received the first dose; 3,692,922 second doses
• Recovered from acute infection: 173,786
• Long-term care and assisted living homes and acute care facilities currently affected: 23

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IN DEEP:Here are all the cases of BC from the new coronavirus in 2021 | in 2020

BC GUIDES AND LINKS

• COVID-19: Here is everything you need to know about the new coronavirus

• COVID-19: Here’s how to get vaccinated in British Columbia

• COVID-19: Find your neighborhood on our interactive map of cases and vaccination rates in BC

• COVID-19: Fear of needles? Here’s how to get over your fear and get vaccinated

• COVID-19: Five things to know about the spread of the P1 variant in BC

• COVID-19: Here are all the BC cases of the new coronavirus in 2021

• COVID-19: Have you been exposed? Here are all the BC public health alerts

• COVID-19 in BC schools: here are the school district’s exposure alerts

• COVID-19: Avoid These Recalled Hand Sanitizers in Canada

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• COVID-19: Here’s where to get tested in Metro Vancouver

• BC COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool

LATEST NEWS on COVID-19 in BC

BC reports a record number of tests in one day

Health authorities conducted a record 17,965 tests on Wednesday, and on Thursday afternoon people who arrived at the COVID-19 testing site in Abbotsford were turned away, despite having an appointment.

Staff at the test site told them they had been overwhelmed by people coming to get tested, including many from Chilliwack. On Wednesday, 9,246 of the record numbers of tests were conducted at Fraser Health.

According to the BC Center for Disease Control, 861 new cases were reported during the last day and five deaths.

There are currently 5,726 active cases of the disease in the province and 330 people hospitalized, including 148 in intensive care.

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The British Columbia Ministry of Health does not include in its hospital case numbers people admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 who are no longer contagious but are still hospitalized, generally or in ICU beds.

Chilliwack Elementary School Closes Due to COVID-19 Outbreak

Promontory Heights Elementary School is closed to in-person learning through October.

The Chilliwack School District made the announcement Wednesday night, saying the school community has seen an increase in COVID-19 infections in the past 10 days.

Students and teachers will switch to remote learning starting Thursday through October 1 in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus. The school will return to in-person instruction on Monday, October 4.

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Fraser Health has declared an outbreak at the school.

Students in the affected grades and unvaccinated staff should isolate themselves at home. Others will be asked to self-monitor.

School exhibitions begin to increase in BC

There have been at least 183 exposures across 117 BC schools and daycare centers over the past three weeks, according to the most recent data from a parent-driven BC-based COVID-19 tracking service.

BC School COVID Tracker is a Facebook page that was created last year by Richmond’s mother, Kathy Marliss, and includes exposure-based data and case information submitted by teachers, parents, and administrators.

The page was created because the provincial government did not provide that data in a compiled manner last school year and, as of earlier this week, it was not going to post any parental exposure notices this entire school year, only notices if there were any spread COVID in a school (group or outbreak).

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Provincial health official Dr. Bonnie Henry reversed that decision earlier this week.

Wednesday’s Facebook page showed that 16 COVID exposures had been reported in schools the day before. 7,604 exhibit notices were issued to all BC schools last school year.

According to data from the BC Center for Disease Control released during the week of September 9-15 (covering parts of the first two weeks back to school), there were 141 new cases in toddlers ages zero to four. , 428 in those from five to 11 years old. and 309 in those between 12 and 17 years old.

Four of the 878 cases reported in children under 17 between September 9 and 15 were hospitalized and one person 19 years of age or younger is currently in intensive care.

– David Carrigg

BC vaccine holdouts are now popping up as vaccine card is released

Resentful, but resigned.

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That was the prevailing attitude among those who walked out of the Vancouver Coastal Health walk-in vaccination clinic at the Italian Cultural Center on Wednesday.

Now they have joined the 88.4 percent of British Columbia residents over the age of 12 who have received at least one vaccine, and the 80.7 percent who are fully vaccinated.

Many were unhappy with injecting a foreign substance, even though medical experts say the vaccines are safe.

Some of those who agreed to speak said they decided to get the jab anyway to keep a job or return to public spaces like a gym.

Simon McDonald, for example, seriously considered leaving his job once the double vacancy became an employment term for him to continue working at his job in the service industry.

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“At first I was pretty hesitant,” McDonald said. “Even after I was ordered to, I was still hesitant and thought about quitting my job. But I can’t go to the gym or anywhere else (without being fully vaccinated). I can go to McDonald’s, but not to the gym. And you have to follow the rules.

“I don’t even take ibuprofen if I have aches and pains. I am careful what I put into my body. So a big part of that (his objection to being hesitant) is personal freedom, I guess. “

– Gordon McIntyre

BC MAP OF WEEKLY COVID CASE RECORDS, VACCINATION RATES

Find out how your neighborhood is doing in the battle against COVID-19 with the latest number of new cases, positivity rates, and vaccination rates:

BC VACCINES FOLLOW-UP

LOCAL RESOURCES for information on COVID-19

Here is a host of information and landing pages for COVID-19 from various health and government agencies.

• BC COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool

• Vancouver Coastal Health – Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Information

• HealthLink BC – Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information Page

• BC Center for Disease Control – Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

• Government of Canada – Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Outbreak Update

• World Health Organization – Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak

–With files from The Canadian Press