B.C. reports 30 fewer people in hospital with COVID-19 and 1 more death

B.C. health officials reported 419 people in hospital with COVID-19 on Tuesday including 63 in intensive care, as the province recorded one more death from the disease.

The new numbers represent a decrease of 30 COVID-19 patients hospitalized within the last 24 hours. The number of patients in the ICU has not changed.

Overall hospitalizations, which typically lag behind spikes and dips in new cases, are down by 19.8 per cent from last Tuesday, when 523 people were in hospital with the disease and down about 57.5 per cent from a month ago when 986 people were in hospital.

The number of patients in intensive care is down by about 24 per cent from 83 a week ago and down by 56.8 per cent from a month ago when 146 people were in the ICU.

As of Tuesday, 7.8 per cent of COVID-19 tests in B.C. are coming back positive, according to the province's COVID-19 dashboard. The number had been above 20 per cent though most of January but began to fall in February, along with hospitalizations.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said that anything above a five per cent test-positivity rate is an indicator of community transmission.

The provincial death toll from COVID-19 is now 2,915 lives lost out of 351,141 confirmed cases to date.

There are a total of 14 active outbreaks in assisted living, long-term, and acute care facilities, with three outbreaks declared over by the province.

As of Tuesday, 90.7 per cent of those five and older in B.C. had received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 86.5 per cent a second dose.

A total of 2.6 million people have received a booster shot to date.

Health professional vaccine mandate

B.C.'s health minister denied on Tuesday that the province is backing away from a long-promised COVID-19 vaccine mandate for regulated health professionals.

A public health order will require professionals to report their vaccination status to their professional colleges — instead of making the shot mandatory for health professionals who work in private practice, including everyone from dentists and doctors to chiropractors and massage therapists.

The order, posted online Monday, states that B.C.'s 19 professional regulatory colleges were informed on March 4 that they would have to collect their members' vaccination information.

Any professional whose vaccination status is "not found," according to the order, must provide their vaccination records by a deadline of March 31. Colleges will be required to disclose this information to the provincial health office if requested.

It is unclear what the consequences would be for professionals who do not submit their vaccination records to their colleges. The vaccine mandate for those working in health-care facilities stated that any unvaccinated workers would be placed on unpaid leave after a deadline had passed.

When asked if or when vaccination will ever be mandated for regulated health professionals, Dix said, "It's my strong view that everyone in health care should get vaccinated."

He promised to provide more information during a news conference on Thursday.

A spokesperson for the ministry reiterated in an email to CBC that the latest order is just the "next step" in making vaccination mandatory. However, they did not respond to questions about whether health professional colleges actually have the legal power to enforce such a mandate.