BC reports 175 in hospital with COVID-19 in August update

The first COVID-19 data released by the BC Centre for Disease Control since the province’s public health emergency officially ended shows hospitalizations are declining but still close to year-high levels.

According to the BCCDC, there were 175 positive COVID patients in British Columbia hospitals as of Thursday. That’s down from 204 at the start of last month, but still the fourth highest number of 2024, and more than double the 76 people who were in hospital this time last year.

The number of patients with COVID-19 in British Columbia hospitals, as reported in public updates from the BC Centre for Disease Control in 2024, is showing. (CTV News)

Last week, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced that she would end the public health emergency that has been in effect since early 2020 due to COVID.

The move meant that all remaining restrictions — most notably the vaccination mandate that remained in place for most health care workers — would be lifted and unvaccinated health care workers could reapply for jobs in British Columbia’s health care system.

Critics called the move too late and politically motivated. They said British Columbia was the last province in Canada to abolish mandatory vaccination. In addition, the country is struggling to keep rural emergency rooms open due to staff shortages and a provincial election is due in October.

Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix defended the measure, saying the vaccine mandate was “essential” to protect health care workers and patients and that the number of workers fired for refusing the shot was relatively small.

The provincial health officer added that the decision to end the public health emergency had “nothing to do” with the election.

“Under the Public Health Act, I am required to lift orders as soon as reasonably possible if the conditions are no longer met,” Henry said.

She added that the change could potentially have been implemented “a few months ago,” but that there is still uncertainty about the impact of a spring wave of COVID-19.

Henry noted that there is still uncertainty about the coronavirus that paralyzed the world in 2020, and that infections are likely to increase again in the fall.

“We know that (the virus) will inevitably mutate,” she said. “We may need different variants of the vaccine over time.”

Henry described the number of people entering hospitals and intensive care units due to COVID-19 as “lower and stable.” CTV News tracked the BCCDC data and supported that conclusion.

The province’s highest number of hospitalizations in 2024 so far is 219, and all but two published updates showed numbers below 200.

In 2023, the number of people in hospital with COVID varied more widely, from 422 to 76.

In 2022, the published total rose to 1,054 in the early days of the Omikron variant, and the lowest total recorded that year was 255.

The BCCDC’s most recent update showed 368 new lab-confirmed COVID infections in the province. However, that number significantly underestimates the spread of the virus because most people in the province are not eligible for a lab test.

Wastewater monitoring data, which is published weekly and can help estimate the prevalence of COVID in the broader community, has shown “elevated” concentrations of the virus in recent weeks but is “stabilizing or declining” in most locations, the BCCDC said.

With files from The Canadian Press