Provincial health officer apologizes, backtracks on B.C. COVID-19 hospitalization stats
Three weeks after B.C.’s provincial health officer promised to give a complete accounting of people in hospital due to COVID-19, Dr. Bonnie Henry is apologizing and now offering a vague description of what officials will provide instead.
One month ago, CTV News first began trying to get the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized but “off precautions,” meaning they are no longer contagious and requiring special containment and transmission-mitigation measures.
The provincial government refused to provide that number and offered only a single day’s worth of statistics several days later, even though other provinces routinely provide that information, which gives people a better sense of how full hospitals are and the long-term impact of the disease on the health-care system.
“I do apologize that it's taken longer than I expected,” said Henry, blaming a fractured information technology system. “As it is turns out, not surprisingly perhaps, it's more complicated than I initially thought so I've been working with our team and we will be trying to provide a semblance of that."
Why “a semblance” may be provided rather than the true number is unclear: on Sept. 21, the province said there were 152 non-infectious patients in hospital due to COVID, on top of the 330 who were infectious. And Vancouver Coastal Health was internally circulating the number of “off-precautions” patients weekly to a wide group as recently as July.
“I'm trying to get a better sense of what that number is -- from the initial look at it it's somewhere around 200, we think, but that includes a variety of things,” said Henry, pointing out that some of those would be people who caught COVID in hospital but weren’t necessarily seriously ill due to the disease, some who were in long-term due to the damage the disease had caused, and about a third of which were people who’d been re-admitted with complications after being released.
Henry also muddied the waters in terms of when someone is taken out of the COVID ward and no longer in daily pandemic hospital stats, pointing out that sometimes it was more than 10 days and pointing to some seriously-ill ICU patients who were still on precautions for 30 days or longer.
That seems to contradict a statement issued by the Ministry of Health in response to CTV News’ inquiries on the matter.
“For most cases, isolation is discontinued after 10 days, provided there is no fever and symptoms are improving. These same requirements are in effect in Ontario, Alberta and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S,” said the statement. “In B.C., for serious cases, the guideline is 20 days.”
Henry said she hopes to have a “better breakdown” of non-contagious COVID-19 patients in hospital in the next day or two. She also revealed that the overall number of hospitalized British Columbians will go up in the coming days because when the fourth wave struck Interior Health, they lost track of how many COVID-19 patients were in hospital as the facilities were overwhelmed.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
BREAKING Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
The Body Shop Canada explores sale as demand outpaces inventory: court filing
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
Vicious attack on a dog ends with charges for northern Ont. suspect
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
On federal budget, Macklem says 'fiscal track has not changed significantly'
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says Canada's fiscal position has 'not changed significantly' following the release of the federal government's budget.