B.C. reports 63 more people in hospital with COVID-19 and 24 more deaths over 3 days
CBC
B.C. health officials reported 987 people in hospital with COVID-19 on Monday, including 129 in intensive care, as the province recorded 24 more deaths from the disease and 4,997 new cases over the last three days.
The new numbers represent an increase of 63 COVID-19 patients hospitalized within the last 24 hours and a drop of one case in ICU.
Overall hospitalizations, which typically lag behind spikes and dips in new cases, are up by 20 per cent from last Monday, when 819 people were in hospital with the disease.
Due to a data reporting change introduced Jan. 14, month-to-month hospitalization comparisons won't be available again until Feb. 14.
The number of patients in intensive care is up by about 30 per cent from 99 a week ago and by 82 per cent from a month ago when 71 people were in the ICU.
Experts say hospitalizations are a more accurate barometer of the disease's impact, as new case numbers in B.C. are likely much higher than reported, now that the province has hit its testing limit because of the Omicron surge.
As of Thursday, 22.4 per cent of COVID-19 tests in B.C. are coming back positive, according to the province's COVID-19 dashboard.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said that anything above a five per cent test-positivity rate indicates a concerning level of community transmission.
There are currently 31,822 recorded active cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus in B.C.
The provincial death toll from COVID-19 is now 2,553 lives lost out of 313,076 confirmed cases to date.
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