Number in hospital with COVID-19 in B.C. hits another new low in latest update
The number of patients with COVID-19 in B.C. hospitals declined again this week, once again reaching a low not seen since before the province began including incidental hospitalizations in its count.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported 204 test-positive patients in hospitals across the province Thursday, down from 228 last week, which was itself the lowest level seen in more than a year.
The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in B.C. on Thursdays since the province switched to a "hospital census" model is shown. (CTV)
The BCCDC began including incidental cases – meaning those in which a person was admitted to hospital for something other than COVID-19 and tested positive once they got there – in its total in January 2022, near the peak of the first wave of Omicron-variant infections.
The count of hospitalized people on Thursdays peaked at 985 shortly after the switch in reporting methods, but had never fallen below 255 in a weekly update until last week.
Health officials estimate that between 40 and 50 per cent of hospitalizations reported each week are caused by severe cases of COVID-19, while the rest are incidental.
Applying the estimated proportion of non-incidental cases provided by public health officials to the current count suggests roughly 82 to 102 people are currently hospitalized because of the disease.
Tracking the data back to before the switch, the last time the BCCDC reported fewer than 204 people in hospital with the coronavirus was Dec. 28, 2021, when the total was 193.
That total, however, was intended to reflect all patients with severe enough cases of COVID-19 to require hospitalization.
The last time the BCCDC reported a hospitalized population below 100 was in August 2021, before the Omicron variant had been named.
OTHER NEW DATA
Thursday's update from the BCCDC also came with continued declines in new hospital admissions (which are different from the currently hospitalized population) and newly confirmed infections.
There were 293 new, lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 during the week of Jan. 22 to 28, the most recent "epidemiological week" for which data is available.
That's a substantial decrease – roughly 28 per cent – from the 408 new cases the BCCDC reported last week for the period of Jan. 15 to 21.
Weekly caseloads are not considered representative of the total transmission of COVID-19 in B.C., because they only include the results of lab-based PCR tests, which are available for people with coronavirus symptoms in only a limited number of situations.
Still, though experts estimate that the official case count is off by roughly 100-fold, it has generally moved in the same direction as other indicators like hospitalizations and wastewater surveillance since the province adopted its current, limited testing strategy.
New hospital admissions tell a similar story this week. The BCCDC reported just 73 of them for the week ending Jan. 28, down from 104 initially reported last week for the period ending Jan. 21.
Last week's total has since been revised upwards to 123, and this week's total will be revised upwards in next week's update.
This week's total is beginning at a lower point than last week's did, however, and the revised total for last week is the second-lowest the BCCDC has reported since it switched to weekly data updates in April 2022.
Wastewater surveillance data, which captures a much broader sample of the population than the official case count, had not been updated at the time of writing Thursday.
The most recent wastewater data available on the BCCDC website showed a declining trend in coronavirus concentrations across all treatment plants, though the rate of decline was slowing in some regions.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.