Hospitalizations rise again as B.C. tops 30,000 confirmed active cases

B.C.'s surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations continued Thursday, with the province announcing 324 infectious patients are now in hospital with the disease.

That's an increase of seven from Wednesday's total and a 54 per cent increase since last Thursday, Dec. 30.

There are currently 90 patients in intensive care units in B.C.

The latest numbers came alongside 3,223 new positive PCR tests as the Omicron-variant-driven surge continues. B.C.'s testing system is at its limit, and officials have estimated the actual number of infections in the province may be five times as high.

The number of confirmed active cases in the province surpassed 30,000 on Thursday, breaking the all-time record yet again. There are currently 31,817 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C. confirmed through lab testing.

The latest data came in a written statement from the Ministry of Health, which indicated that there had been three additional COVID-19-related deaths in the province in the last 24 hours. There have now been 2,430 deaths in B.C. since the pandemic began.

Many of those deaths have been among residents of long-term care homes, which have seen a resurgence of COVID-19 outbreaks in recent weeks.

The ministry added 16 more outbreaks in the health-care system to its list on Thursday, bringing the total to 37. As recently as Dec. 22, there were none.

Thursday's newly confirmed cases reduced the provincial seven-day rolling average for new infections to 3,241, though the province's aforementioned testing limitations mean that figure doesn't reflect the true spread of the coronavirus in B.C.

Testing is being prioritized for those over the age of 65 and people with underlying health conditions that put them at greater risk of complications from COVID-19.

Those under age 65 who have symptoms are being offered rapid antigen tests, but the province has yet to publicly report the number of people who have tested positive through such means.

In an update Thursday, the independent B.C. COVID-19 Modelling Group asked people who have had a positive rapid test to report it to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, and to call on the province to release data on positive tests.

The modelling group, which is composed of experts in epidemiology, mathematics and data analysis from B.C. universities and the private sector, warned that its modelling shows the Omicron-variant-fuelled fifth wave of COVID-19 could produce an all-time high for hospitalizations in the province this month.

A key driver of the Omicron surge has been the variant's ability to infect people who have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

According to the ministry, fully vaccinated people accounted for 83.5 per cent of new cases recorded between Dec. 29 and Jan. 4.

Those with two shots also made up the majority of new hospitalizations over the two weeks from Dec. 22 to Jan. 4, accounting for 58.9 per cent of them.

Still, on a per-capita basis, vaccinated people are much less likely to be hospitalized due to COVID-19 than those who are unvaccinated. During the same period from Dec. 22 to Jan. 4, unvaccinated people were hospitalized at a rate of 29.5 per 100,000, compared to just 4.2 per hospitalizations per 100,000 among those with two or more doses of vaccine.

As of Thursday, 88.4 per cent of eligible people ages five and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine, and 83.1 per cent have received two shots.

Booster shots have been administered to 24.1 per cent of eligible people ages 12 and older.