COVID hospitalizations hit new low for the year as BCCDC switches to monthly reports

The exterior of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control office in Vancouver is seen in this photo from the centre's website. (bccdc.ca)

The number of people in B.C. hospitals with COVID-19 dropped to a new 2024 low for a second week in a row Thursday, as the B.C. Centre for Disease Control prepares to switch to its summer reporting schedule.

There were 105 test-positive patients in hospitals around the province Thursday, the lowest total the BCCDC has reported so far this year, and a slight decrease from the 112 reported last week.

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in B.C. in 2024, as reported in public updates from the BCCDC, is shown. (CTV News)

This week's total is the lowest the BCCDC has reported since last August and is less than a third of the hospital population reported in late April last year.

The BCCDC's April 20, 2023, update showed 316 people in hospital with COVID.

Notably, the number of COVID-positive patients the agency reports in its updates includes both those who have serious cases of the disease requiring hospitalization, and those who are admitted to hospital for other reasons and test positive for COVID incidentally.

CTV News tracks the reported hospital population as a rough proxy for the spread and severity of COVID in the province at a given time, though other data shared by the BCCDC can also help illustrate trends.

On Thursday, the agency reported 252 new infections confirmed through lab-based testing during the most recent epidemiological week, which spanned April 14 to 20.

That total is identical to the one the BCCDC reported for the preceding epidemiological week, but because more tests were conducted during the week ending April 20, the percentage of tests coming back positive declined in the most recent update. Test positivity was 8.8 per cent during the last epidemiological week, down from 9.2 per cent the week before.

Thursday's data represents the penultimate weekly report from the BCCDC before it reduces the frequency of such reports. Next week's update on May 2 will be the last one until the first Thursday of June.

Last year, the agency provided monthly updates on COVID-19 data from May through September, before reverting to biweekly and then weekly reports in the fall.

The BCCDC has not indicated when weekly reporting will resume this year.

While COVID data will be reported monthly starting in May, reports on other respiratory illnesses will cease to be shared until the fall, according to the BCCDC.

Wastewater surveillance data will continue to be updated on a weekly basis, however.