B.C. reaches all-time high of 534 patients in hospital with COVID-19
CTV
There are a record 534 patients in hospital with COVID-19 across British Columbia, the province announced Thursday.
There are a record 534 patients in hospital with COVID-19 across British Columbia, the province announced Thursday.
Of those, 102 patients are in intensive care.
The total number of infectious patients tops the previous high of 515 recorded back in April, at the height of the third wave, though it's unclear whether there are differences in the severity of illness now that Omicron is the dominant variant.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is expected to provide a more detailed picture of hospitalization numbers during a modelling presentation on Friday.
Last week, Henry acknowledged there have been challenges across the country in separating severe cases requiring hospital care from incidental infections, and that the numbers provided are not a perfect measurement.
"We're in the process right now of trying to tease through what's the best measure for us to understand the impact of Omicron on the severity of illness and on hospitalizations," she said at the time.
Hospitalizations have come into greater focus since B.C.'s testing capacity became overwhelmed late last year, in the midst of unprecedented transmission. Because healthy people with mild symptoms are being told to self-isolate and forego testing, daily case numbers are not currently considered a reliable measure of the state of the pandemic in the province.
