Number with COVID-19 in B.C. hospitals rises for first time this year

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in B.C. rose slightly on Thursday, but remains near a 14-month low.

There were 193 test-positive patients in B.C. hospitals Thursday, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. That's up from 188 last week, which was the lowest level seen since December 2021.

The number of COVID-positive patients in B.C. hospitals on Thursdays in 2023 is shown. (CTV)

Until Thursday, the BCCDC's weekly report on current hospitalizations had shown declines each week since the start of the year, pushing the count to lows not seen at any point in 2022.

There were signs in last week's report, however, that transmission of the coronavirus had begun to plateau or even resurge. 

The hospitalization numbers on the graphs in this article show what the BCCDC calls the "hospital census": The total number of people in hospital on a given day who are COVID-positive, regardless of whether the disease is the underlying reason for their hospitalization.

Health officials estimate that between 40 and 50 per cent of the hospitalizations reported each week are caused by the coronavirus, while the rest are so-called incidental cases, in which someone went to the hospital for a non-COVID-related treatment and tested positive after admission.

Since the BCCDC began reporting the "hospital census" in January 2022, the number of people in hospital on a Thursday has been as high as 985 and as low as last week's total of 188.

The number of people in B.C. hospitals with COVID-19 on Thursdays since the province switched to a "hospital census" model in January 2022 is shown. (CTV)

WASTEWATER DATA

As of Thursday afternoon, this week's wastewater surveillance data had not yet been released. The most recent data available, however, showed increasing concentrations of the virus that causes COVID-19 in several communities, mostly outside the Lower Mainland.

SARS-CoV-2 levels were rising in Kamloops, Kelowna, Penticton, Victoria and Nanaimo. The only treatment plant with coronavirus surveillance outside the Lower Mainland that did show an increase was in the Comox Valley.

Of the five Metro Vancouver treatment plants included in the surveillance, only Northwest Langley was showing an increase in coronavirus concentrations, though all of the other plants were decreasing at slower rates than they had in previous weeks.

NEW CASE DATA

Wastewater surveillance data is useful because data on positive COVID-19 tests is limited. The BCCDC only reports results of lab-based tests, which are only available to B.C. residents in a few specific circumstances.

Home-based rapid antigen tests are not included in the weekly case totals the BCCDC reports, even though they're the only testing method available to most British Columbians.

Still, the trend in newly reported cases – along with wastewater data and other indicators – can help show the trajectory of transmission in the province.

This week, the BCCDC reported 341 new, lab-confirmed COVID-19 infections for the period of Feb. 5 to 11. That's an increase from the 278 reported for the previous epidemiological week.

VACCINATION DATA

B.C. health workers administered 11,139 new doses of COVID-19 vaccines during the week that ended Feb. 11, according to the BCCDC's COVID-19 dashboard. 

That total represents an increase from the previous week, when 10,574 doses were administered, but remains much lower than the levels seen during the fall booster campaign.

As was the case during that campaign, most of the doses administered in the most recent week were given to people who had already had at least one booster dose.

This week's update came on the same day that B.C. auditor general Michael Pickup released his report on the province's tracking and reporting of immunization rates for the first year of the vaccination campaign.

The auditor general found that while the Ministry of Health had the data it needed and did a good job tracking it overall, there were some issues in reporting and record-keeping, particularly related to vaccination rates among health-care workers and in long-term care facilities.