COVID hospitalizations drop below 100 as BCCDC switches to monthly reporting

A sign at the BC Centre for Disease Control is seen in this photo from the BCCDC website.

The number of people with COVID-19 in B.C. hospitals dropped below 100 this week for the first time since last summer.

The latest data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control shows 97 test-positive COVID patients in provincial hospitals, down from 105 at this time last week.

The number of people with COVID-19 reported in provincial hospitals by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control in 2024 is shown. (CTV News)

Thursday's total is the lowest the BCCDC has reported so far in 2024, and the first time the hospitalization count has been below 100 since August 2023, when the agency reported just 76 patients in hospital.

That August update was a two-year low for COVID-19 hospitalizations in B.C., according to CTV News tracking of publicly released data. It was followed by a dramatic surge in September and October, growing more than five-fold to 422 test-positive patients by Oct. 5, 2023.

If this year follow's last year's pattern, the province is on pace to see an even lower summer low. Last year at this time, there were 268 people hospitalized with COVID, more than double the current total.

Of course, there's no guarantee that transmission of the disease will follow the same pattern it did last summer.

While the hospitalized population has been declining slowly and steadily in recent weeks, other data released by the BCCDC on Thursday has not necessarily followed the same pattern.

The latest update shows 254 new infections confirmed through lab-based testing during the most recent epidemiological week, which ended April 27. That's essentially unchanged from the 253 reported the week before and the 252 reported the week before that.

The percentage of tests coming back positive rose slightly during the most recent week, going from 8.8 per cent to nine per cent, largely as a result of fewer tests being conducted overall.

Whether this recent plateauing of transmission data corresponds to a plateau or slight resurgence of hospitalizations in the coming weeks will not be known until the start of June, as the BCCDC is switching from weekly to monthly reports over the summer.

Wastewater surveillance data will continue to be released weekly on the agency's website, however, and can provide some insight into general trends in virus transmission. 

The latest wastewater data released Thursday shows relatively low SARS-CoV-2 concentrations at all monitored treatment plants, with most showing either stable or decreasing trends.