Number hospitalized with COVID-19 in B.C. hits new low for 2024 in latest update

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The number of patients in B.C. hospitals with COVID-19 reached its lowest level of 2024 so far on Thursday.

The latest weekly data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control shows 146 people hospitalized with the disease, a 14-per-cent decrease from the 170 reported in provincial hospitals last week.

The number of COVID-19 patients reported in hospital in each public update from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control in 2024 is shown. (CTV)

Thursday's hospitalization total is also the lowest the BCCDC has reported publicly since Aug. 3, when there were just 76 COVID-positive patients in B.C. hospitals.

That figure was a two-year low. 

Whether the hospital census drops that low again in the coming weeks remains to be seen. The BCCDC said in its summary of respiratory illness data released Thursday that COVID numbers have been "relatively stable" in recent weeks.

The BCCDC reported Thursday that there were 396 new positive lab tests for COVID-19 in the most recent epidemiological week, which spanned Feb. 11 to 17. That's essentially unchanged from the 394 new infection episodes detected the week before.

Meanwhile, the ratio of tests that came back positive during the week ending Feb. 17 was 11.3 per cent, a slight increase from the 10.7 per cent positivity recorded the week before.

During her most recent remarks on respiratory illness season back in early January, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry noted that COVID-19 has, so far, behaved less seasonally than other respiratory illnesses. 

Thursday's data matches that observation. While COVID numbers were mixed – but largely stable – in this week's update, the number of new influenza and RSV infections declined, as did test positivity for those illnesses.