The number of COVID-19 cases in British Columbia hospitals rose by nearly 100 this week as hospital admissions rose again after falling since mid-May.
As of July 7, there were 369 cases in the hospital, 96 more than last Thursday, and 36 cases in the ICU, an increase of four, according to the BC Center for Disease Control.
Earlier this week, UBC mathematical biologist and BC COVID-19 independent modeling group member Sarah Otto warned that the province was in the midst of a third wave of the Omicron variant, driven by the BA.5 subvariant. .
The BCCDC also reported 765 cases for the week ending July 2 (145 more than the previous week), although due to restrictions on PCR testing, the true figure is likely to be significantly higher.
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Just over 12,200 tests were conducted the week ending July 2, and the province-wide test positivity rate was 7.5 percent, unchanged from the previous week.
For the week ending July 2, the province also reported an increase in hospital admissions for the second week in a row, after five weeks of decline.
The BCCDC reported 172 hospital admissions, an increase of three over the previous week’s initial report. Weekly admission numbers are typically significantly revised the following week. For context, the initial figure reported last Thursday of 169 admissions between June 19 and 25 has now been revised upwards by 23.6 percent to 209.
The latest weekly data reports 24 deaths between June 26 and July 2. That figure is also preliminary and is expected to be revised upwards. The figure reported last Thursday of 17 deaths between June 19 and 25 has been revised upwards by a staggering 94 percent to 33.
Adding complexity to the numbers, the way the province now tracks deaths, called “all-cause mortality,” includes all deaths in the reporting period among those who tested positive for COVID-19 in the previous 30 days.
Health officials have said this model likely overestimates deaths.
Subsequent analysis has found an average of 45 percent of deaths reported under the “all-cause mortality” model between April 9 and May 21 were actually caused by COVID-19, according to the BCCDC.
However, that figure is also expected to be revised upwards in the future.
Despite decreased immunity from COVID-19 vaccines, data continues to show that people with two or more vaccines have a lower risk of serious outcomes from the virus.
Based on data from May 8 to July 2, unvaccinated people were twice as likely to end up in the hospital and three times as likely to end up in the intensive care unit as people who were vaccinated with three doses.
Health Minister Adrian Dix, Acting Provincial Health Officer Dr. Martin Lavoie, and BC Immunization Director Dr. Penny Ballem are scheduled to hold a briefing Friday at 1 p.m.
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