Latest B.C. COVID-19 data shows modest decline in hospital population

The number of COVID-positive patients in B.C. hospitals has declined slightly over the last week, according to the latest data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

The BCCDC's COVID-19 dashboard shows 406 test-positive patients in hospitals as of Thursday, down from 426 at this time last week. The number of patients requiring critical care has also declined slightly, from 34 to 30.

This graph shows the number of COVID-19 patients in B.C. hospitals on Thursdays since the province switched to a "hospital census" model for counting COVID hospitalizations in January. (CTV)

B.C. hospitalization totals include everyone who tests positive for the coronavirus in a hospital setting, regardless of whether COVID-19 is the primary reason for their hospitalization.

Since the province began using this "hospital census" model in January, there have been as many as 985 people in B.C. hospitals with COVID-19 and as few as 255.

OTHER INDICATORS STILL RISING

The hospital census is the most up-to-date number the BCCDC releases each week. All of the other data the centre shares each Thursday pertains to the most recent epidemiological week – in this case the week that ended July 16.

The modest decline in the number of people in hospital this week may signal the peak of the latest wave of coronavirus infections in the province, but it could also be an anomaly.

Other indicators – while less up-to-date than the hospital census – continue to suggest increasing coronavirus transmission.

The BCCDC reports 1,044 new cases of COVID-19 recorded during the week of July 10 to 16. That's a larger total than it recorded during the preceding week, when there were 973 cases.

Similarly, the number of newly reported hospitalizations was higher during the most recent epidemiological week – at 246 – than it was during the previous one, when 211 new admissions were reported.

It should be noted that the case numbers the BCCDC reports each week include only "lab-confirmed, lab-probable and epi-linked" infections. The vast majority of B.C. residents with COVID-19 symptoms do not qualify for a lab-based test under the province's current testing strategy, and results from at-home rapid tests are not collected.

Wastewater surveillance in the Lower Mainland can help account for cases not included in the official count. The latest data, published in the BCCDC's weekly "situation report," shows that as of July 16, viral loads had been declining slightly across all five wastewater treatment plants in Metro Vancouver. 

"Generally, increases in SARS-CoV-2 viral loads in wastewater have slowed or reversed in the past one to two weeks," the situation report reads.

"Further data are required before determining whether this trend is consistent with plateauing of COVID-19 incidence in Metro Vancouver, or short-term variability of these environmental measurements."

VACCINATION DATA

The province administered 45,406 vaccine doses from July 10 to 16, according to the BCCDC. That's a slight increase from the number it administered the previous week.

The vast majority of those doses – 35,329, or roughly 78 per cent of them – were fourth doses, which recently became available to residents ages 18 and older, but only if it's been six months since their first booster shot, and only if they call the provincial vaccination hotline.

Health officials still recommend waiting until the fall to get a second booster dose, and have said they're planning to offer "fall boosters" to everyone ages 12 and older starting in September. 

Those who want to get a fourth shot sooner than that now have the option to do so, and since the province made that option available to them, appointment bookings have soared. 

According to the BCCDC COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard, 91 per cent of people ages five and older had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of July 17. Eighty-eight per cent had received two doses and 53 per cent had received three. 

In the 70-plus age group, 53 per cent had received a second booster shot, or fourth dose, as of that date. The dashboard does not currently include data on fourth shots among those under age 70.

Nor does it include data on vaccination of children under age five. Health Canada authorized Moderna's vaccine for use among young children last week, and the province has said it will begin administering shots to that age group on Aug. 2.