13 children, teens hospitalized with COVID-19 this week, B.C. officials say
B.C. health officials have provided new details on the recent uptick in children and teenagers being hospitalized with COVID-19, including that none of the patients have required critical care.
Dr. Bonnie Henry shared the latest hospitalization data during a modelling presentation Friday, revealing 13 patients under the age of 18 were admitted to hospital with COVID-19 from Jan. 6 to 12.
Nine of those were children under the age of five, who are currently ineligible for vaccination. There were also two hospitalizations in the five to 11 age group, and two in the 12 to 17 age group.
Henry noted that officials in B.C. and other jurisdictions are "seeing a different pattern" of illness among young people who catch Omicron, which is now the dominant variant in Canada.
"It behaves more like some of the other respiratory viruses in triggering things like asthma and airway disease and bronchiolitis in young children," she said. "That's most commonly the reason they're in hospital after infection with COVID."
While there were no children admitted to critical care over the last week, and there have been no coronavirus deaths involving B.C. children since April, officials have cautioned that young people can still get seriously ill, and transmit the virus to others.
There were 2,782 cases involving people under the age of 18 from Jan. 6 to 12, including 1,026 involving children under the age of five.
Henry encouraged parents to get their kids vaccinated when eligible, noting that COVID-19 case rates are higher for people who are unvaccinated, whether they are adults or children. The province's data also shows vaccination significantly decreases the likelihood of hospitalization among young people.
"We've only had one case of a child hospitalized who's been vaccinated," Henry said. That child's stay in hospital was short, according to officials.
Since the start of the pandemic, 32 children and teenagers have been admitted to intensive care, including 14 under the age of five.
Officials also stressed the importance of parents and others who spend time around young children getting vaccinated, calling it "the best we can do to protect them from transmission."
The province's modelling presentation indicated that, when adjusted for age, unvaccinated people are 27 times more likely to require intensive care and 40 times more likely to die from COVID-19.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Stamp prices rise for the third time in five years amid financial woes for Canada Post
Canada Post is increasing stamp prices for the third time since 2019, a move the Crown corporation says is a "reality" of its sales-based revenue structure.
BREAKING Winnipeg man admits to killing four women, claims he's not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women in Winnipeg, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
Trudeau Liberals to unveil new bill Monday aimed at countering foreign interference
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc will be tabling legislation on Monday aimed at countering foreign interference in Canada. Federal officials have scheduled a technical briefing on the incoming bill for Monday afternoon.
WATCH Avian flu: Risk to humans grows as outbreaks spread, warns expert
H5N1 or avian flu is decimating wildlife around the world and is now spreading among cattle in the United States, sparking concerns about 'pandemic potential' for humans. Now a health expert is urging Canada to scale up surveillance north of the border.
Human remains were found at a former Hitler base, but decay prevents determining the cause of death
Polish prosecutors have discontinued an investigation into human skeletons found at a site where German dictator Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders spent time during the Second World War because the advanced state of decay made it impossible to determine the cause of death, a spokesman said Monday.
Italy's white-collar mafia is making a business killing
Italy's mafia rarely dirties its hands with blood these days. Extortion rackets have gone out of fashion and murders are largely frowned upon by the godfathers.
Ontario MPP asked again to leave Ontario legislature over keffiyeh, Speaker loosens ban
An Ontario MPP was asked again to leave the Ontario legislature on Monday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that was banned by the Speaker last month due to its political symbolism.
The story of how a B.C. man found his birth mother
After his adopted parents died, Dave Rogers set out to learn more about his birth mother. DNA results and a little help from friendly strangers would put him on a path to a small town in England.
Trump fined US$1,000 for gag order violation in hush money case as judge warns of possible jail time
The judge presiding over Donald Trump's hush money trial fined him US$1,000 on Monday for violating his gag order once again and sternly warned the former president that additional violations could result in jail time.