B.C. COVID-19 hospitalizations reach their highest level in 2023 so far

What a difference two months makes.

At the start of August, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported just 76 people in hospital with COVID-19, the lowest total it had shared in two years. 

On Thursday, in its first update of October, the BCCDC reported 422 people in hospital with the coronavirus – more than quintuple the August total, and the highest figure reported all year.

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in B.C. as reported by the BCCDC in 2023 is shown. (CTV)

Indeed, the 422 people in hospital with COVID-19 as of Thursday represent the highest total reported since July 14, 2022, when there were 426 test-positive patients across the province.

That proved to be the crest of a wave of infections. The week before that, there were 369 people hospitalized, while the week after, there were 406.

Thursday's data is difficult to compare directly to July 2022, because the BCCDC stopped providing its updates on a weekly basis earlier this year.

Weekly reporting is scheduled to resume this month, with the next update from the BCCDC scheduled for next Thursday, Oct. 12.

The last update before this week's was on Sept. 22, when there were 267 people hospitalized with COVID-19. That makes this week's total a 58-per-cent increase from two weeks ago. 

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in B.C. on select dates since January 2022 is shown. (CTV)

Notably, the number of people currently in hospital with COVID-19 includes both those who have serious cases of the disease requiring medical attention and those who are admitted to hospitals for some other reason and test positive after admission.

In an update last week about respiratory illness season and the province's fall vaccination campaign, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reiterated that about 40 per cent of COVID patients in hospital are there because of the disease, while the rest are incidental hospitalizations. 

OTHER DATA

The latest growth in the hospitalized population corresponds with increases in other metrics as well.

In the most recent epidemiological week – the period from Sept. 24 - 30 – there were 877 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the province. That's up from 748 the preceding week and more than double the 425 reported during the week that ended Sept. 9.

Likewise, the percentage of government-funded COVID-19 tests coming back positive rose to 23.1 per cent during the most recent epidemiological week. That's the highest test positivity B.C. has seen since the end of the first Omicron wave in February 2022.

Relatively few people are tested in B.C. While there were 877 new infections confirmed through testing during the week in question, the number of people who contracted the virus is likely many times higher.

To get a sense of how much the coronavirus is spreading in the general population that doesn't qualify for lab-based COVID testing, health officials monitor trends in wastewater. 

As of Thursday, every wastewater treatment plant in the province for which COVID-19 surveillance is available was showing at least a slight upward trend in virus concentration.

Thursday's update also included wastewater surveillance data for other respiratory viruses – specifically Influenza A, Influenza B and RSV – for the first time. Those diseases are also showing some signs of an upward trend.

Last winter, the combination of COVID, influenza and RSV put significant strain on the province's beleaguered health-care system, at one point prompting the reopening of pandemic-era emergency operations centres to manage the load. 

At last week's update, Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and influenza this fall – as well as maintaining proper "respiratory etiquette" – would get B.C. through the respiratory illness season.

Protect our Province B.C. – an independent advocacy group of doctors and policy specialists – has criticized Henry and Dix for not taking further measures to limit transmission, particularly in schools. 

A renewed mask mandate for most B.C. health-care facilities began this week.