Fewer than 100 in hospital with COVID-19 in B.C. for 1st time in 23 months

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The B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported 96 test-positive COVID-19 patients in hospitals across the province on Thursday. It's the first time in nearly two years that the official count has dropped below 100. 

The BCCDC last reported 96 infected people in hospital on Aug. 15, 2021. At the time, cases and hospitalizations were on the upswing as the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 circulated through the population. 

The count hit 104 the following day and never dropped back below the three-digit mark, until now.

In the intervening 23 months or so, B.C. officials have changed the way they report COVID-19 data multiple times, and the BCCDC advises against making direct comparisons between pre- and post-transition data.

For the number of people currently in hospital, the big switch came in January 2022, when the province switched to a "hospital census" model. That meant anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 would be included in the count, regardless of whether the coronavirus was the underlying reason for their hospitalization.

Before January 2022, so-called "incidental" hospitalizations were excluded from the total.

Health officials estimate that between 40 and 50 per cent of the hospital census at any given time is patients who are hospitalized because of serious cases of COVID-19. The rest of the total is people who were hospitalized for some other reason and tested positive after admission.

The 96 patients in hospital Thursday is, by far, the lowest total the BCCDC has reported since switching to the hospital census model.

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in B.C., biweekly, since the province switched to a "hospital census" model is shown. (CTV)

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

Interestingly, the overall decline in the hospital census appears to be driven by three health authorities: Fraser Health, Interior Health and Northern Health. Interior Health reported just four COVID-19 patients on Thursday, and Northern Health had only one.

Hospitalizations in Island Health have dipped only slightly since the BCCDC's last update in June, and the hospital census in Vancouver Coastal Health has actually ticked up.

The reported number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in each of B.C.'s five regional health authorities in 2023 is shown. (CTV)

WASTEWATER SURVEILLANCE

While most data related to COVID-19 in B.C. is now released monthly, the BCCDC continues to publish weekly updates on its monitoring of wastewater at treatment plants in the Lower Mainland, in the Interior and on Vancouver Island. 

Over the last several weeks, the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater at Lower Mainland plants has been plummeting.

Elsewhere in the province, however, the trend is in the opposite direction.

Penticton saw an increase in coronavirus concentrations during the week of June 25, and Kelowna has seen three straight weeks of increases since June 11.

It should be noted, however, that the viral load at both of those treatment plants remains low, relative to where it has been historically.

Similarly, overall concentrations at wastewater facilities in Victoria, Nanaimo and the Comox Valley remain low, but all three saw at least a slight increase in their most recent update.