More than 800 people in B.C. hospital with COVID, with another 22 deaths

Hospitalizations in B.C. continue to break records, with another 173 people in hospital with COVID-19 over the weekend, bringing the total to 819.

Only four of those people were admitted to the ICU, bringing that total to 99.

Forty-four people in the ICU were on ventilators, which is unchanged from Friday.

Another 22 people have died from complications due to the virus, the province announced Monday, bringing that total to 2,490 since the pandemic began.

These deaths include someone in their 50s and someone in their 70s, Global News has learned.

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The new method for counting COVID-19 in hospitals amounts to a “census” of all positive cases, regardless of their reason for admission, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry told a Friday morning briefing, acknowledging it was an “overestimate.”

“It includes people who are incidentally found to have COVID-19, and it includes people who were part of an outbreak or cluster in a hospital — so, (they) acquired it while they were in the hospital for something else,” she said.

Over the three days, B.C. also counted another 5,625 new cases, driven by the Omicron variant.

These include 2,383 from Friday to Saturday, 1,733 from Saturday to Sunday and 1,509 from Sunday to Monday.

This brings the total to 35,985 active cases and a total of 299,146 since the pandemic began.

As of Monday, 92.4 per cent of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of vaccine, 89.6 per cent  their second dose, and 33.3 per cent have received a third dose.

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There have been eight new health-care facility outbreaks at Mayfair Senior Living + Care, MSA Manor (Fraser Health), Heritage Square (Interior Health), Salvation Army Sunset Lodge, James Bay Care Centre, The Heights at Mt. View, Luther Court and Selkirk Village Assisted Living (Island Health).

The outbreaks at Royal Columbian Hospital, The Waverly Seniors Village, Glenwood Seniors Community (Fraser Health) and German Canadian Benevolent Society Home (Vancouver Coastal Health) have been declared over, for a total of 50 facilities with ongoing outbreaks, the province said.

Provincial modelling released Friday suggested B.C. could see new hospitalizations peak late this week.

Henry said the Omicron variant is leading to hospital visits being shorter and should lead to the pressure on the system easing quicker than during Delta variant-driven waves.

Hospitalization data continues to indicate those over the age of 70 are more likely to go to the hospital with COVID than any other age group.

People who are unvaccinated are 12 times more likely to end up in hospital, 27 times more likely to end up in intensive care, and 40 times more likely to die.