B.C. posts highest COVID-19 hospitalizations since January in latest monthly update

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in B.C. has risen to its highest level since January, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control's latest monthly update. 

There were 214 test-positive COVID patients in provincial hospitals as of Thursday, according to the BCCDC. That's the second-highest total the agency has published all year, only slightly below the 219 seen on Jan. 4, the first – and still highest – total reported in 2024.

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

Thursday's update showed the number of lab-confirmed cases rose each week in August, with 365 new positive tests recorded during the week of Aug. 4 to 10 and 462 recorded last week.

The percentage of tests coming back positive has also risen since the start of last month, jumping from 15.8 per cent during the week that ended Aug. 10 to 18.7 per cent during the most recent epidemiological week, which ended Aug. 31.

That's the highest test positivity rate the province has recorded since October 2023.

The number of new infections reported by the BCCDC represents only a small fraction of the total spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the province, because relatively few people qualify for lab-based testing and the province does not track the results of at-home rapid tests.

Wastewater surveillance data in the province shows viral concentrations "have remained elevated" since the start of last month, according to the BCCDC.

The independent organization COVID-19 Resources Canada estimated in its most recent forecast that roughly one in 27 B.C. residents is infected, with between 196,900 and 224,800 new infections expected this week. 

The organization rates the B.C.'s current COVID risk as "severe."