B.C. reports 41 more people in hospital with COVID-19, 3 more in the ICU and 13 more deaths

B.C. health officials reported 895people in hospital with COVID-19 on Wednesday, including 115in intensive care,as the province recorded 13 more deaths from the disease and 2,387 new cases.

The new numbers represent an increaseof 45 COVID-19 patients hospitalized within the last 24 hours, including three morepatients in the ICU.

Due to a data reporting change introducedFriday, Jan. 14,week-to-week hospitalization comparisons won't be available again until Friday, Jan. 21.

The number of patients in intensive care is upby about 12.7per cent from 102a week ago and upby 49.4 per cent from a month ago when 77people 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.

On Tuesday during a live news conference, Health Minister Adrian Dix said more than 95 per cent of B.C.'s hospital bed capacity is currently occupied with regular as well as COVID-19 patients.

Dix said that 8,778 base beds were in use out of a total capacity of 9,229 beds. He said there were an additional 2,353 surge beds, 570 of which were occupied.

As of Wednesday, 22.1 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 thatanything above a five per cent test-positivity rateindicates a concerning level of community transmission.

There are currently 35,770 recorded active cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus in B.C.

The provincialdeath toll from COVID-19is now 2,505lives lost out of 303,565 confirmed cases to date.

There area total of 52active outbreaks in assisted living, long-term, and acute care facilities.

Fraser Health later confirmed that two further outbreaks were reportedat long-term care facilities in the region, andsix were declared over.

Acute care outbreaksinclude:

• Surrey Memorial Hospital.
• Abbotsford Regional Hospital.
• Langley Memorial Hospital.
• Burnaby Hospital.
• Peace Arch Hospital.
• Kelowna General Hospital.
• Royal Jubilee Hospital.

As of Wednesday,89.3 per cent of those five and older in B.C. hadreceived their first dose of aCOVID-19 vaccineand 83.4 per cent asecond dose.

From Jan. 11 to 17, people who were not fully vaccinated accounted for 25.9 per cent of cases and from Jan. 4 to 17,they accounted for 31.8 per cent of hospitalizations, according to the province.

A total of 1.6 million people have received a booster shot to date.

Functional school closures

Two schools in Abbotsford, B.C., shut their doorsWednesday as the result of afunctional closurecaused bya lack of staff to support ongoing operations.

The Abbotsford School District announced that due to operational limitations, both W.J. Mouat Secondary and Yale Secondary School are temporarily closed to in-person instruction.

Both schools are scheduled to reopen on Monday, Jan. 24.