COVID-19 hospitalizations down again but 5 more in the ICU as B.C. reports 2 additional deaths

B.C. health officials reported 787 people in hospital with COVID-19 on Tuesday, including 124 in intensive care, as the province recorded two more deaths from the disease.

Due to a provincial data reporting change, the exact number of new cases for Tuesday was not available.

The new numbers represent an decrease of 16 COVID-19 patients hospitalized within the last 24 hours, but five more patients in the ICU. It's the sixth straight day that hospitalizations have gone down.

Overall hospitalizations, which typically lag behind spikes and dips in new cases, are down by 20.1 per cent from last Monday, when 986 people were in hospital with the disease and up about 21.8 per cent from a month ago when 646 people were in hospital.

The number of patients in intensive care is down by about 15 per cent from 146 a week ago and up by 30.5 per cent from a month ago when 95 people were in the ICU.

As of Monday, 14.6 per cent of COVID-19 tests in B.C. are coming back positive, according to the province's COVID-19 dashboard. The number had been above 20 per cent though most of January but has been falling all month, along with hospitalizations.

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

The provincial death toll from COVID-19 is now 2,766 lives lost out of 341,532 confirmed cases to date.

There are a total of 39 active outbreaks in assisted living, long-term, and acute care facilities. One new outbreak has been recorded and one has been declared over by the province.

Acute care outbreaks include:

• Queen's Park Care Centre.
• Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.

As of Tuesday, 90.4 per cent of those five and older in B.C. had received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 85.3 per cent a second dose.

A total of 2.4 million people have received a booster shot to date.

Restrictions lifting Wednesday

Earlier today, B.C. health officials announced that some restrictions will be lifted Wednesday at midnight.

Indoor personal gatherings will be able to return to normal. Indoor and outdoor organized gatherings and indoor seated events can return to full capacity, as long as attendees wear masks and B.C. vaccine cards are used.

Restaurants, bars and nightclubs can return to full capacity, with no table size limits, and dancing will be allowed in B.C. once again.

Fitness centres and adult sports can return to full capacity, with masks and vaccine cards in place.

Other provincial health guidelines, such as mask wearing, the use of the B.C. vaccine card and rules around long-term care visitors will be reviewed in the coming months, officials said.