Every region of B.C. saw its number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 decline this week

The number of COVID-19-positive patients in B.C. hospitals declined significantly this week, and for the first time in months, every regional health authority also saw its hospital census decrease. 

There were 96 fewer patients in hospital with the coronavirus on Thursday than there were the previous week, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. And nearly half of that decline came in the Fraser Health region.

The graph shows the number of test-positive COVID-19 patients in hospitals in each of B.C.'s regional health authorities on Thursdays since mid-April. (CTV)

Fraser Health saw its hospital census decline by 45, from 176 last week to 131 this week. It's the only regional health authority with more than 100 test-positive patients still hospitalized.

Vancouver Coastal Health's patient total dropped by 20 (from 102 to 82) and Island Health's dropped by 19 (from 76 to 57).

Interior Health saw the smallest decline, with six fewer patients this week (46) than last (52), while Northern Health saw seven fewer patients, bringing its total down to just four.

The regional totals don't add up to the overall total of 325 because COVID-19 patients in Provincial Health Services Authority facilities are not reported by region on the BCCDC's COVID-19 dashboard. The regional totals add up to 320, implying that there were five COVID-19 patients in PHSA facilities as of Thursday.

Hospitalization figures in B.C. include both people who are admitted to hospital because of serious illness from COVID-19 and those who are hospitalized for other reasons and test positive incidentally.

Since the province began counting hospitalizations this way – rather than attempting to sort out and report only those hospitalizations that were actually caused by COVID-19 – there have been as many as 985 patients in hospital on a Thursday, province-wide, and as few as 255.

The new hospitalization numbers reported Thursday came alongside a decline in lab-confirmed cases of the coronavirus, as well as declining concentrations of the virus in wastewater in the Lower Mainland.

While the vast majority of COVID-19 infections in B.C. are no longer reflected in the official numbers reported each week because of a lack of testing, the BCCDC does still report the locations of the positive PCR tests it does track.

A map of cases recorded in the province during the week of May 29 to June 4 shows the largest numbers of infections concentrated – predictably – in larger population centres. 

The local health area that includes most of the City of Surrey recorded the highest number of cases, with 79. The City of Vancouver is divided into six different local health areas, but adding their caseloads together shows there were 120 cases in that city during the week in question.

Elsewhere, the Greater Victoria local health area saw 41 new cases and the Central Okanagan region, which includes the City of Kelowna, saw 30.

These figures reflect people who meet the province's current guidelines for lab-based COVID-19 testing and saw their tests come back positive. 

Lab-based testing is currently available in B.C. for those who have symptoms and are currently hospitalized, pregnant, at risk of more severe disease and eligible for treatment, or living or working in settings with others who are high-risk for severe illness.

Between May 29 and June 4, the highest concentrations of positive tests among people who meet this criteria were found not in B.C.'s largest cities, but in sparsely populated regions where just a few cases equates to a large per-capita rate of infection.

The Keremeos local health area led the way in this regard, with a daily case rate of 15 new lab-confirmed infections per 100,000 residents during the week in question. Vancouver Island West had the second highest rate, at 14 per 100,000. No other local health area saw more than nine new daily cases per 100,000 residents.