B.C.'s COVID-19 hospitalizations jump to new high of 646 following data reporting change

B.C. health officials reported 646people in hospital with COVID-19 on Friday, including 95in intensive care,as the province recordedsixmore deaths from the disease and 2,275 new cases.

The new numbers represent an increaseof 112COVID-19 patients in hospital but health officials said during a Friday morning briefing they expected a one-time spike after changing the method of calculating COVID-related hospitalizations to include people who were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for the disease.

The province also reported seven fewer patients in the ICU compared to Thursday.

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 35,943 recorded active cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus in B.C.

The provincialdeath toll from COVID-19is now 2,468 lives lost out of 293,521confirmed cases to date.

There area total of 46 active outbreaks in assisted living, long-term, and acute care facilities.

Acute care outbreaksinclude:

• Surrey Memorial Hospital.
• Eagle Ridge Hospital.
• Royal Columbian Hospital.
• Abbotsford Regional Hospital.
• Langley Memorial Hospital.
• Laurel Place.
• Burnaby Hospital.
• Peace Arch Hospital.
• Kelowna General Hospital.
• Royal Jubilee Hospital.

As of Friday,89 per cent of those five and older in B.C. hadreceived their first dose of aCOVID-19 vaccineand 83.3 per cent asecond dose.

From Jan.6 to 12, people who were not fully vaccinated accounted for 21.5per cent of cases and from Dec. 30 to Jan. 12,they accounted for 34.2 per cent of hospitalizations, according to the province.

A total of 1.4million people have received a booster shot to date.

Antiviralsen route

As the pandemic-weary province confronts another wave of COVID-19 cases with a strained health-care system, Health Canada is looking at new products that could offer some relief: antivirals.

Two such drugs are making their way through thelabyrinthine Health Canada approvals process: Pfizer's Paxlovid and Merck's molnupiravir.

These antiviral treatments, which are prescribed by a doctor and administeredin pill form, are designed to help the body fight off the SARS-CoV-2 virus, reduce symptoms from an infection and shorten the periodofillness.

Pfizer, the New York-based pharmaceutical giantwhich also developed a highly effective COVID-19 vaccine, started sending Paxlovid data to Health Canada regulators on Dec. 1.

An approval of some sort could be coming soon, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters on Wednesday.

"The Health Canada approval process is proceeding swiftly in an accelerated manner, as has been the case for many other approval processes in the last 22 months," Duclos said.