On the first day of fall, B.C. sees fewest people in hospital with COVID-19 in months
The number of people with COVID-19 in B.C. hospitals is the lowest it's been since early July, according to the latest update from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
There were 305 people in hospital with the disease as of Thursday – which is the autumnal equinox and the first official day of fall. Officials have been warning for months that the coronavirus is likely to spread more widely in the fall and winter.
The number of COVID-19 patients in B.C. hospitals on Thursdays since the province switched to a "hospital census" model for counting them in January is shown. (CTV)
The number of patients in hospital reported by the BCCDC each week includes both those with serious cases of COVID-19 requiring medical attention and those who are hospitalized for other reasons and test positive for COVID incidentally.
Since the province began counting hospitalizations using this "hospital census" model, there have been as many as 985 people in hospital with the coronavirus and as few as 255.
For the last several weeks, however, the total has remained between 300 and 400. The last time there were more than 400 COVID-19 patients in B.C. hospitals was Aug. 4, and the last time there were fewer than 300 was June 30.
Though Thursday's total is the lowest in months, it's not a significant departure from the levels of hospitalization that have been seen in the province since the most recent wave of infections subsided.
The coronavirus continues to circulate fairly widely in B.C., with the BCCDC reporting 637 new, lab-confirmed cases in the most recent epidemiological week. That's a slight increase from the previous week, when 574 new cases were reported.
Because the province only counts cases that are confirmed through lab testing – which is unavailable to British Columbians in most circumstances – the official totals are a dramatic undercount of COVID-19 cases province-wide.
Last month, the independent B.C. COVID-19 Modelling Group estimated that there were approximately 100 times as many new infections each week as the BCCDC reported.
If that estimate is correct, there were roughly 63,700 new cases of COVID-19 in B.C. from Sept. 11 to 17, or about 9,100 per day.
'FALL BOOSTER' CAMPAIGN UNDERWAY
Whether the slight increase in the official case count – which is mirrored in wastewater surveillance at two of five treatment plants in Metro Vancouver – is the start of an expected fall surge remains to be seen.
Provincial health officials have been planning for such a surge for months, and bivalent vaccines that target the Omicron family of SARS-CoV-2 variants are now being distributed across B.C.
As of Sept. 18, according to the Ministry of Health, B.C. had received 415,000 doses of Moderna's bivalent vaccine, and administered 44,000.
That means the bivalent vaccine likely made up the majority of the 51,885 doses administered in the province during the week of Sept. 11 to 17. Bivalent doses began being administered in pharmacies in the Lower Mainland on Sept. 9, according to the ministry.
The ministry said more than 75,000 fall booster appointments had been booked for this week in its statement to CTV News on Wednesday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
What Michael Cohen said on the stand in Trump hush money case
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial took the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
Behind the barricades: How protesters spend their first days in a new encampment
Students in Montreal describe life in a newly erected encampment in Montreal as a whirlwind of preparations, from facing rain and a potential police crackdown to setting up a space for the exchange of ideas.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Next 48 hours will be 'extremely challenging' for B.C. wildfire crews near Fort Nelson: officials
A wildfire burning dangerously close to Fort Nelson, B.C., has grown to more than 50 square kilometres, and officials are warning that the blaze's behaviour is expected to become more volatile over the next 48 hours.
Southern Ont. man charged with attempted murder in Timmins shooting
One of two men wanted for attempted murder in Timmins has been arrested, while a warrant has been issued for a second suspect, who fled police on foot.