Six more people have died due to COVID-19 in B.C. since Friday as hospitalizations slowly creep upwards.
As of Monday, 288 people are in hospital, including 48 patients who are in intensive care.
While the overall number of hospitalizations is up from the 260 patients on Friday, the number of ICU patients has dipped from 50.
The new deaths over the weekend bring the province’s death toll to 2,989 since the pandemic began over two years ago.
Health officials also reported another 556 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases since Friday: 207 were confirmed on Saturday, 197 on Sunday and 152 on Monday.
While the average number of cases per day continues to trend downward, signs are emerging that hospitalizations have begun to plateau after falling for six weeks straight.
Monday’s increase comes after two days last week that also saw bumps in the number of patients.
According to the province, 90.8 per cent of eligible British Columbians aged five and over have received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 87.3 per cent have received two.
Just over 57 per cent of eligible people over age 12 have received their third dose.
Health officials say fully vaccinated people are now accounting for a majority of both confirmed cases over the past week (83.9 per cent) and hospitalizations over the past two weeks (75.2 per cent).
The new data comes as students across British Columbia return to the classroom for the first time without a mask mandate for schools. As of Monday, wearing a mask inside is optional.
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