Omicron's impact part of just-launched 'deep dive' in to B.C.'s COVID-19 hospitalizations

Officials in British Columbia are conducting what they're calling a "deep dive" into hospitalizations associated with the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

The so-called dive began over the weekend, the provincial health officer said, and will cover a variety of topics.

Dr. Bonnie Henry said public health officials will be looking into how many people were admitted due to COVID-19, compared to those who were determined to have it afterwards, she said.

They'll also be looking at how many people were hospitalized for underlying illnesses that were exacerbated by an infection.

It is unclear if and when that information will be made public, once collected, and Henry did not suggest a timeframe for the study.

She was asked how long patients being hospitalized with the Omicron variant are staying in hospital. While Omicron appears to be transmitting quickly in the province, many who've been diagnosed haven't experienced the severity of symptoms noted with other variants, such as Delta.

This is in part due to more people being vaccinated, health officials say.

Henry responded that it's a bit too soon to make a generalization about the lengths of hospital stays associated with Omicron, but that it's something her team is watching as part of their latest investigation.

She said there's been a "slight increase" in hospitalizations since the variant started transmitting on the West Coast, and that early indications suggest those stays, among people who've been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, may not be as long as seen earlier in the pandemic.

She said data from other parts of the world seem to back that up too, but that there hasn't been a high enough number of confirmed Omicron cases in B.C. yet to compare the severity to other variants.