These B.C. regions saw COVID-19 hospitalizations rise last week, even as the overall total declined

Dec. 29, 2021 photo

The overall number of COVID-19 patients in B.C. hospitals declined last week, but two health authorities saw their hospitalized populations continue to grow.

Vancouver Coastal Health and Interior Health bucked the overall trend, seeing their hospitalization numbers rise to 123 and 56, respectively, as of Thursday.

This graph shows the number of patients in hospital in each health authority on Thursdays since late April. (CTV)

In each region, the hospitalized population has grown for three straight weeks and has roughly doubled since June 30.

Last week's growth in hospitalizations in those two health authorities was offset by declines everywhere else, however, bringing the overall number down, slightly, to 406 from 426.

Fraser Health – B.C.'s most populous regional health authority – saw the largest numerical drop, going from 157 people in hospital with COVID-19 on July 14 to 134 on Thursday.

The largest percentage drop came in Northern Health, where hospitalizations fell from 26 on July 14 to just eight last week.

Island Health saw a more modest decline, going from 89 people in hospital two weeks ago to 79 as of Thursday.

Hospitalization totals reported by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control each week reflect the total number of patients in hospitals who have tested positive for COVID-19, regardless of whether the disease was the underlying cause of hospitalization.

Since mid-January, when the province switched to this "hospital census" model for counting hospitalizations, there have been as many as 985 coronavirus patients in B.C. hospitals on a Thursday and as few as 255.

The latest data on hospitalizations suggests the current wave of cases in B.C. may be peaking already, and at a lower level than the previous wave. https://bc.ctvnews.ca/latest-b-c-covid-19-data-shows-modest-decline-in-hospital-population-1.5997253

Wastewater surveillance data from Metro Vancouver has also pointed in this direction recently, with slight decreases in coronavirus concentrations across all five of the region's treatment plants reported last week.

Other indicators, however, have continued to rise, with the most recent BCCDC data on new positive tests and new admissions to hospital showing increases during the last epidemiological week.

The province's next COVID-19 data update will be this Thursday, July 28.