B.C. COVID-19 data shows third Omicron wave underway
CTV
With B.C.'s independent COVID-19 modelling group predicting that another wave of infections will sweep through the province and peak in August, weekly data released Thursday by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control shows the surge beginning.
With B.C.'s independent COVID-19 modelling group predicting that another wave of infections will sweep through the province and peak in August, weekly data released Thursday by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control shows the surge beginning.
For the first time in two months, the number of coronavirus-positive patients in B.C. hospitals increased this week. There were 369 in hospital, including 36 in critical care, as of Thursday.
The BCCDC reports anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 upon admission to hospital as a COVID-related hospitalization, even if the disease is not the primary reason the patient requires hospital care.
Since the province switched to this "hospital census" model for tracking hospitalizations in January, there have been as many as 985 COVID-positive patients on a Thursday and as few as 255.
The incoming wave of infections is the third one to be driven by a variant of the Omicron strain of the virus.
The independent modelling group predicts that the subvariant BA.5 – which is believed to account for the majority of new cases – will fuel the latest rise in infections, though it's unclear how high the wave will crest, or what impact it will have on B.C.'s already strained health-care system.