Total hospitalized with COVID-19 in B.C. climbs in latest weekly update
The number of people with COVID-19 in B.C. hospitals rose this week, while other data released Thursday by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control was a mixed bag.
There were 263 test-positive COVID patients in provincial hospitals Thursday, up from 244 last week, an increase of 7.7 per cent.
The number of people with COVID-19 reported in hospital in each update from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control in 2023 so far is seen. (CTV)
CTV News tracks the number of people currently in hospital because it is the only data about COVID-19 that the BCCDC releases in real time.
All of the other data reported Thursday is from the most recent "epidemiological week," which stretched from Nov. 5 to 11.
There were 475 new lab-confirmed infections in the province during that period, a decrease from the 540 recorded the week before.
The test positivity rate also declined during the week that ended Nov. 11, dropping to 14.2 per cent from 15.9 per cent the week before.
Testing in B.C. is limited, however. It neither captures every new case of COVID-19 contracted in the province, nor is it intended to. Rather, it captures the trend in infections among those who qualify for provincially funded, lab-based testing.
To get an approximate sense of how much the coronavirus is circulating among the vast majority of B.C. residents who do not qualify for lab-based testing, officials monitor the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater from various treatment plants across the province.
Unlike the test-based data, wastewater data shows increasing virus concentrations as of Nov. 11 at the five monitored treatment plants in the Lower Mainland.
In the Interior, wastewater concentrations had jumped significantly as of that date in Kamloops, while they were declining in Kelowna and Penticton.
Prince George and Victoria also saw increased levels of the coronavirus in their wastewater in the latest update, while data from Nanaimo and the Comox Valley has not been updated since September.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's response to Trump deportation plan a key focus of revived cabinet committee
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's promise to launch a mass deportation of millions of undocumented people has the Canadian government looking at its own border.
Who should lead the Liberals? 'None of the above,' poll finds
As questions loom over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership, a new Nanos Research poll commissioned for CTV News says a quarter of Canadians say none of the potential candidates appeal to them.
New technology solves mystery of late First World War soldier's flower sent home to Canada
In 1916, Harold Wrong plucked a flower from the fields of Somme, France and tucked it into a letter he mailed home to Toronto. For decades, the type of flower sent remained a mystery.
U.S. election maps: How did 2024 compare to 2020 and 2016?
Though two states have yet to be officially called, the U.S. election map has mostly been settled. How does it compare with the previous two elections?
Canada rent report: What landlords are asking tenants to pay
Average asking rents declined nationally on a year-over-year basis for the first time in more than three years in October, said a report out Thursday.
N.S. school 'deeply sorry' for asking service members not to wear uniforms at Remembrance Day ceremony
An elementary school in the Halifax area has backed away from a request that service members not wear uniforms to the school's Remembrance Day ceremony.
Remembrance Day: What's open and closed in Canada?
While banks and post offices will be closed nationwide on Remembrance Day, shops and businesses could be open depending on where you live in Canada.
Judicial recount for Surrey-Guildford confirms B.C. NDP's majority
The B.C. New Democrats have a majority government of 47 seats after a judicial recount in the riding of Surrey-Guildford gave the party's candidate 22 more votes than the provincial Conservatives.
48,584 space heaters recalled in Canada after burn injury in U.S.
Health Canada has announced a recall for electric space heaters over potential fire and burn risks, a notice published Thursday reads.