369 in hospital with COVID-19 in belated B.C. weekly update

Surrey Memorial Hospital.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported 369 people in hospital with COVID-19 in the province on Friday, up roughly 12 per cent from the previous week.

The latest numbers come amid an ongoing surge in respiratory illness in the province that has stretched children's hospitals to the brink, but which officials say has not been driven by COVID-19. 

The number of patients in B.C. hospitals with COVID-19 on Thursdays since the province switched to a "hospital census" model is shown. (CTV)

The number of patients in hospital with COVID-19 reported by the BCCDC each week includes both those with serious SARS-CoV-2 infections requiring hospitalization and those who are hospitalized for other reasons and test positive incidentally.

Health officials have previously said between 50 and 60 per cent of the people in B.C. hospitals with COVID-19 at a given time are "incidental" cases.

Since the province switched to this "hospital census" counting method in January, there have been as many as 985 and as few as 255 people in hospital on Thursdays.

This week's update came a day late. The BCCDC typically publishes weekly COVID-19 data on Thursdays, but said on its website this week that "a disruption to the network infrastructure that temporarily impacted information system updates" had forced it to delay the update. 

CASES AND WASTEWATER CONCENTRATIONS RISING

In addition to the number of people currently in hospitals around the province, the weekly update includes data on new, lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19, new admissions to hospital, and wastewater surveillance.

This data is compiled by "epidemiological week" and released several days after the week in question is completed. The data released Friday, for example, was compiled during the week of Nov. 20 to 26.

During that time, according to the BCCDC, 604 new infections were confirmed through lab-based testing. That's 106 more new cases than were reported during the previous epidemiological week, an increase of roughly 21 per cent. 

These totals reflect only lab-based testing. Cases detected through at-home rapid antigen tests – which are the only type of test available to the vast majority of British Columbians – are not counted. The province also excludes reinfections from its case totals, which can further lessen the accuracy of the official case count.

The independent B.C. COVID-19 Modelling Group estimates that the BCCDC's case counts are off by roughly 100-fold, meaning the 604 new cases reported for Nov. 20 to 26 reflect more like 60,400 newly infected people in the community during the period, or about 8,600 per day.

Still, the increase in the official case count is notable, and it mirrors the trend in wastewater surveillance in the Lower Mainland, where all five treatment plants have shown increased concentrations of the coronavirus in recent weeks. 

The number of new hospital admissions for the week of Nov. 20 to 26 also shows an increase. There were 161 new admissions reported during that time, up from 144 initially reported during the previous week.

The BCCDC typically revises these figures up after a week, as data become more complete. Last week's 144 has since been revised up to 192, but this week's total is starting from a higher initial point.

VACCINATION DATA

According to the BCCDC's COVID-19 dashboard, the province administered 97,542 new doses of COVID-19 vaccine during the week that ended Nov. 26.

That marks the first time since September that B.C. has administered fewer than 100,000 shots in a week.

As has been the case for much of the province's "fall booster" campaign, the vast majority of doses administered during the week in question were either fourth or fifth doses, meaning they were given to people who had already had a primary course of vaccine and a booster dose.

In all, there were 48,951 fourth doses and 32,493 fifth doses administered during the week, about 83 per cent of the total.

In its most recent report, the independent modelling group noted that waning immunity from previous rounds of vaccination and infection would likely lead to increases in COVID-19 cases and social impacts, until "waning is offset by new immunity gained through vaccination and/or infections."