COVID-19 hospitalizations up by 30 and 23 more deaths recorded in new weekly report

An additional 30 people are in hospital with COVID-19 compared to a week ago and 23 more people have died after testing positive for the disease, according to B.C.'s new weekly reports on the pandemic.

As of Thursday, 364 people are in hospital with the novel coronavirus, including 36 in intensive care, the B.C. COVID-19 dashboard shows.

That's an increase of about nine per cent in overall hospitalizations from last Thursday, when 334 people were in hospital. The number of patients in ICU is down five per cent from 38 a week ago.

The numbers released Thursday mark a new approach for B.C. health officials, both in the move to weekly reporting and in how certain metrics are calculated.

Other data related to the pandemic is available in a report from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, which tracks cases, hospital admissions and deaths between April 3 and 9.

It shows that 1,770 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in that time, based solely on lab-reported results. Under the previous system for reporting, new cases also included those reported by the health authorities.

The report shows that the number of new cases is up by about four per cent from 1,703 in the previous week.

Test positivity rates rising again

Another 23 people died between April 3 and 9, a figure that is being reported in a very different way as well.

Those 23 deaths include everyone who died within 30 days of testing positive for COVID-19, whether or not the virus has been confirmed as an underlying cause of death. Previously, each death was investigated to determine if COVID-19 was a cause.

An additional 233 people were admitted to hospital with COVID-19 in that time period.

Meanwhile, test positivity rates are rising once again, hitting 8.2 per cent provincewide on April 9 and as high as 17.4 per cent in the Interior Health region, according to the dashboard.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said anything above a five per cent test-positivity rate is an indicator of a more worrying level of transmission.

Provincial statistics show 91 per cent of those 18 years and older have received two doses of a vaccine. Those in the five-to-11 age category who have had two shots of vaccine is now 40 per cent.