Hospitalizations up, ICU admissions down in B.C.'s latest update on COVID-19 data

There are currently 364 people in hospital with COVID-19 in British Columbia, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control's weekly update on pandemic statistics.

The total, which includes both serious coronavirus cases requiring hospitalization and incidental cases among people who were hospitalized for other reasons, is up 40 from where it stood last Thursday.

This graph shows the number of test-positive COVID-19 patients in B.C. hospitals on Thursdays beginning Jan. 20, 2022, when the province began including incidental hospitalizations in its total. (CTV)

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units in the province has declined slightly, however, from 38 last week to 36 as of Thursday.

The latest data comes after the first full week without any daily updates on COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations or deaths from the provincial government, and as Canada's top doctor describes the country as experiencing a "sixth wave" of the pandemic.

NEW CASES AND HOSPITALIZATIONS

The weekly update from the BCCDC indicates that there were 233 new hospitalizations from April 3 to 9. It also revises the previous week's new hospitalization total up from the 193 initially reported to 230. 

The number of new cases for the week of March 27 to April 2, meanwhile, was revised downward slightly, from 1,706 to 1,703.

During the most recent week of data, April 3 through 9, the BCCDC reports 1,770 new cases.

That total only includes "lab-confirmed, lab-probable and epi-linked cases," however, meaning that cases confirmed through rapid antigen tests - the only type of testing available to most British Columbians with COVID-19 symptoms - are not included.

Residents who test positive on a rapid test are not even able to report that information to the BCCDC, which recently discontinued its online form for reporting rapid test results. 

This means the true number of COVID-19 infections in B.C. is not known, nor is it knowable.

DATA TRENDS

What is knowable, based on the data that the province collects and releases on a weekly basis, is that infections and hospitalizations are trending higher.

Deaths are also on the rise, according to BCCDC data, though it should be noted that the province is now reporting deaths based on "30-day all-cause mortality," meaning that anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 within 30 days of their death is included, even if their death was not COVID-19-related.

Still, when the province released its first version of this death count last week, there were 11 such deaths noted between March 27 and April 2.

This week, that total has been revised up to 20, and the total for the most recent week - April 3 through 9 - has been listed as 23. That total, too, is expected to rise "as data become more complete," according to the BCCDC.

Similarly, wastewater surveillance, which is used to estimate the overall incidence of COVID-19 in the community, has seen viral loads trending upward in recent weeks.

Of the five wastewater treatment facilities in the Lower Mainland that are tested for COVID-19 regularly, four had seen at least three consecutive weeks of increasing viral loads as of Thursday, according to the BCCDC's weekly "Situation Report." 

The fifth has seen "variable" viral loads that do not show a clear trend, though COVID-19 levels remain "elevated," according to the BCCDC. 

VACCINATION DATA

On the vaccination front, BCCDC data indicates that the province administered 25,916 new doses from April 3 through 9, or an average of about 3,700 per day.

The vast majority of new doses were second shots or boosters. Just 2,564 first doses were administered over the week.

Provincewide, roughly 91 per cent of people ages five and older have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 88 per cent have had two shots. Approximately 60 per cent of adults have received a booster shot.

VACCINATION, AGE AND RISK

As health officials in B.C. and elsewhere transition from disruptive public health measures to an emphasis on individual responsibility as the main strategy for limiting coronavirus transmission, age remains the single biggest risk factor for serious complications from COVID-19. 

The median age for COVID-19-attributed deaths in B.C. was 82 as of April 2, according to the BCCDC.

Among B.C. residents ages 70 and older, more than 10 times as many have received three doses of vaccine as are unvaccinated.

Relatedly, vaccinated and boosted seniors in this age group account for far more cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths than the unvaccinated group, a fact largely driven by the much larger number of people who have had three shots than none.

Looking at the numbers on a per-capita basis, those ages 70 and older have been contracting the coronavirus at roughly the same rate regardless of vaccination status. There were 274 cases per 100,000 unvaccinated people ages 70 and older in B.C. from March 13 to April 9, and 279 cases per 100,000 boosted people in the same age group over the same period.

Unvaccinated seniors were more than twice as likely to be hospitalized during that time, however. There were 148 hospitalizations per 100,000 among the unvaccinated, compared to 63 per 100,000 among the boosted.

For ICU admissions and deaths, the gap was even wider. Unvaccinated seniors were admitted to ICUs at a rate of 22 per 100,000 from March 13 to April 9, while those with booster shots were admitted at a rate of just 7 per 100,000.

For deaths, the rates were 29 per 100,000 among the unvaccinated group and 7 per 100,000 among the boosted.