B.C. sees slight decrease in COVID-19 hospitalizations

B.C.'s Centre for Disease Control says COVID-19 hospitalizations are down slightly across the province while the number of people requiring critical care has risen.

The BCCDC reported 349 people in hospital with the virus on Friday, a 6.7 per cent decrease from the previous week. The province last reported fewer than 350 positive cases in hospital on Nov. 24. There are 35 patients in critical care — up from 31 the week before and virtually unchanged from two weeks prior. 

In the week leading up to Dec. 17, 22 new deaths were reported among people who had tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 30 days. 

A total of 4,806 people in B.C. are suspected to have died of causes related to the coronavirus since the pandemic began. 

During that same week, the number of cases confirmed by a PCR test and reported by the province fell to 609 — down 7.6 per cent from the 659 reported the week prior. During that week, 167 new hospital admissions and 28 new critical care admissions were reported.

The number of deaths, hospitalizations and reported cases can be revised retroactively, as the BCCDC and the provincial health ministry receive updated data from regional health authorities.

The actual number of cases in the province is believed to be much higher than what's presented by the BCCDC. The BCCDC only reports tests confirmed in a lab, and those PCR tests are currently inaccessible to the majority of British Columbians.

The BCCDC also monitors viral loads in wastewater at five different water treatment facilities in Metro Vancouver, which account for close to half of B.C's population, and says SARSCoV 2 viral loads are slowly increasing at all of the region's wastewater plants.