B.C. reports 18 deaths in 24 hours from COVID-19 but 47 fewer people in hospital

B.C. health officials reported 988 people in hospital with COVID-19 on Wednesday, including 136 in intensive care, as the province recorded 18 more deaths from the disease and 1,776 new cases.

The new numbers represent adecreaseof 47COVID-19 patients hospitalized within the last 24 hours, including threefewerpatients in the ICU.

Overall hospitalizations, which typically lag behind spikes and dips in new cases, are upby 4.1per cent from last Wednesday, when 949people were in hospital with the disease.

Due to a data reporting change introducedJan. 14, month-to-monthhospitalization comparisons won't be available again until Feb. 14.

The number of patients in intensive care is the same as aweek ago and upby 86.3 per cent from a month ago when 73people were in the ICU.

Experts say hospitalizations area more accurate barometer of the disease's impact,as new case numbersin B.C. arelikely much higherthan reported, now that the province has hitits testing limit because of the Omicron surge.

There are currently 25,959 recorded active cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus in B.C.

The provincialdeath toll from COVID-19is now 2,643 lives lost out of 327,625confirmed cases to date.

There area total of 54 active outbreaks in assisted living, long-term, and acute care facilities, with an outbreak at Veterans Memorial Lodge in Victoria declared over.

Acute care outbreaksinclude:

• Langley Memorial Hospital.
• Victoria General Hospital.
• Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
• Cowichan District Hospital.
• Kelowna General Hospital.

As of Wednesday,90 per cent of those five and older in B.C. hadreceived their first dose of aCOVID-19 vaccineand 84.1 per cent asecond dose.

From Jan. 25 to 31, people who were not fully vaccinated accounted for 25.2 per cent of cases and from Jan. 18 to 31,they accounted for 31.7 per cent of hospitalizations, according to the province.

A total of 2.17million people have received a booster shot to date.

Peak hospitalization

B.C. hadbeen setting daily highs in hospitalizations figures for most of Januarydue to the highly transmissible Omicron variant. On Monday, the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in B.C. surpassed 1,000 for the first time.

However, healthofficials say hospitalizations are peaking and should start to go down.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henrypresented new numbers at a news conference on Tuesday that shows Omicronis causing less serious illness than the Delta variant it replaced.

She said hospitalized patients aredying at about half the rate they were during the Delta wave, althoughthe highest risk of death still involvespeople over the age of 80.

Henry also announced changes to visitation rules for long-term care facilities on Tuesday. Two visitors at a time will now be permitted as long as they are vaccinated and wearing personal protective equipment.