B.C. COVID-19 hospitalizations hit their lowest level in almost 2 years this month
Weekly wastewater surveillance data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control suggests COVID-19 transmission has continued declining in the Lower Mainland this month, a week after the centre reported its lowest hospitalization total in nearly two years.
Wastewater data published this week shows decreasing concentrations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in all five Metro Vancouver treatment plants.
As of June 4, concentrations at Lions Gate treatment plant on the North Shore had declined by 42 per cent compared to the previous week. Northwest Langley saw a decrease of 33 per cent, Annacis Island decreased by 29 per cent, Iona Island saw a 22-per-cent decrease and Lulu Island a 10-per-cent decrease.
Data for treatment plants outside the Lower Mainland had not been updated to include June 4 data as of Friday. Instead, they showed data from May 28, when all tracked regions except Kamloops and Nanaimo saw a decrease.
MONTHLY DATA
Wastewater has been the exception to the BCCDC's transition to monthly reporting of COVID-19 numbers.
Data on wastewater continues to be updated weekly on the centre's website, providing some insight as to the direction disease transmission may be heading between monthly updates.
This month's update, released June 1, showed a significant decline in the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in B.C., which CTV News has been tracking closely since the start of the pandemic.
There were 146 test-positive COVID-19 patients in B.C. hospitals as of June 1, the lowest total seen all year.
The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in B.C. in 2023, as reported by the BCCDC, is shown. (CTV)
Indeed, the last time the BCCDC reported a hospitalized population lower than 146 was almost two years ago, in August 2021.
At that time, the province used a different method of counting hospitalizations that sought to account for whether COVID was the underlying reason a patient was in hospital. Patients who tested positive for the disease incidentally, while in hospital for other reasons, were not included in the count.
Since the BCCDC began including incidental hospitalizations in its total, 146 is the lowest number it has reported in any update.
The number of patients in hospital with COVID-19, as reported by the BCCDC, since the province switched to including incidental hospitalizations in its count in January 2022. (CTV)
Underlying the June numbers were drops in hospitalizations across all of B.C.'s regional health authorities, perhaps most notably in Vancouver Coastal Health, where just 20 people were in hospital as of June 1.
There were fewer people in VCH hospitals than there were in hospitals in the Island Health region, despite the fact that Island Health has roughly 400,000 fewer residents. The VCH total was tied with that of Interior Health, which also has a significantly smaller population.
The number of COVID-19 patients in hospital by health authority in 2023 is shown. (CTV)
CTV News asked VCH if it had any explanation for why fewer people are ending up in hospital with COVID-19 in the region. The answer was no.
"COVID continues to circulate and will cause different impacts in different places as it has at all times during the pandemic, however, thanks to high rates of vaccination and less virus circulating, the number of cases continues to decline overall," a spokesperson said via email.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Couple randomly attacked, 1 stabbed, by group of teens in Toronto, police say
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
Ron Ellis, who played over 1,000 games with Maple Leafs, dead at 79
Ron Ellis, who played over 1,000 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and was a member of Canada's team at the 1972 Summit Series, has died at age 79.
Fort Nelson, B.C., wildfire doubles in size as 3,000-plus ordered to evacuate
The wildfire that sparked Friday and caused evacuation orders for more than 3,000 people in Fort Nelson, B.C., and the nearby Fort Nelson First Nation, has grown to nearly 1,700 hectares in size, according to a Saturday morning update from the BC Wildfire Service.
Dutch contestant kicked out of Eurovision hours before tension-plagued song contest final
Hours before the final, Dutch contestant Joost Klein was dramatically booted out by organizers over a backstage incident. He had failed to perform at two dress rehearsals on Friday, and contest organizer the European Broadcasting Union said it was investigating an "incident."
IN PICTURES Northern lights dance across the night sky in southern Ont.
From London, to Grand Bend, Collingwood and Guelph, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
Haitians demand the resignation and arrest of the country's police chief after a new gang attack
A growing number of civilians and police officers are demanding the dismissal and arrest of Haiti's police chief as heavily armed gangs launched a new attack in the capital of Port-au-Prince, seizing control of yet another police station early Saturday.
opinion How to use your credit card as a powerful wealth-building tool
Irresponsibly using a credit card can land you in financial trouble, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says when used properly, it can be a powerful wealth-building tool that can help grow your credit profile and create new opportunities.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
'We have no judge for you': Man's assault charges dropped weeks before trial due to lack of judges in Toronto
A man who was accused of sexually and physically assaulting a woman had his charges dropped in April, just weeks before he was set to stand trial in Toronto, due to a lack of judges in the region.