Dozens more admitted to B.C. hospitals last weekend as COVID numbers rise

There are now 431 people in the hospital with COVID-19 in B.C., an increase of 82 from Friday.

Of those patients, 95 are in intensive care, which is only a jump of two since Friday.

Global News has learned about 60 per cent of the patients in the ICUs are not vaccinated.

Legislative bureau chief, Keith Baldrey, said it appears people are being discharged quicker after being admitted to hospital for COVID so that would be consistent with the belief that Omicron infects people at a higher rate, forcing more hospital admissions, but the stay in hospital is not as long.

Seven more people have died of complications from the virus, bringing the death toll to 2,446 in B.C. since the beginning of the pandemic.

There are now 34,551 active cases in the province, including the 6,966 new cases reported over the weekend.

That includes 2,573 from Friday to Saturday, 2,287 from Saturday to Sunday and 2,106 from Sunday to Monday.

There have now been 283,841 total cases of COVID-19 in B.C.

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In a news conference last week, Health Minister Adrian Dix said the Omicron variant now accounts for more than 80 per cent of cases in the province.

As of Monday, 88.7 per cent (4,423,328) of eligible people five and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 83.2 per cent (4,145,023) have received their second dose.

In addition, 92.2 per cent (4,271,751) of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, 89.4 per cent (4,144,682) received their second dose and 25.8 per cent (1,197,440) have received a third dose.

Also, 92.5 per cent (4,001,930) of all eligible adults in B.C. have received their first dose, 89.9 per cent (3,887,908) received their second dose and 27.7 per cent (1,196,380) have received a third dose.

B.C. residents in hospitals with COVID-19 include patients who test positive while in hospital and people who test positive out of hospital and later require hospitalization. Dr. Bonnie Henry said this reporting policy may be reviewed in the future.