COVID-19: Five fewer cases in hospital as end of B.C.’s vaccine passport approaches

British Columbia reported five fewer cases of COVID-19 in the province’s hospitals Wednesday, as it prepares to lift the next tier of pandemic restrictions.

Health officials reported 329 positive cases in hospital, a 19-per cent increase over last Wednesday, including 37 cases in critical or intensive care.

The province did not release an update on COVID-19 related deaths Wednesday, but said information would be made available Thursday.

The province also confirmed another 216 new cases, however restricted access to testing means daily new case numbers don’t give an accurate snapshot of the virus’ spread.

As of Wednesday, 88 per cent of B.C.’s population (90.9 per cent of those eligible) had received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, 84.6 per cent of B.C.’s population (87.5 per cent of those eligible) had received two doses and 52 per cent of B.C.’s population (57.8 per cent of those eligible) had received three doses.

The province did not provide an update on recent cases or hospitalizations by vaccination status Wednesday.

However, monthly B.C. CDC data continues to show unvaccinated people at a significantly higher risk of severe outcomes.

From March 1 to March 28, per 100,000 population, among unvaccinated people there were 64.5 cases in hospital, 10.2 unvaccinated cases in ICU and 7 deaths, compared to 24.3 cases in hospital, 3.8 cases in ICU and 2.6 deaths among people with two or more doses.

The update comes as the province prepares to eliminate the BC Vaccine Card, better known as the vaccine passport.

The requirement to show proof of vaccination to access a variety of non-essential services — including restaurants, concerts and indoor sporting events — will expire at 12:01 a.m. on Friday.

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Earlier Wednesday, the independent B.C. COVID-19 Modelling Group released its latest report warning that B.C. was at the beginning of a second Omicron variant wave.

The group said the more infectious Omicron BA.2 variant made up an estimated 80 per cent of new cases over the last week, and that reported cases and hospitalizations are both trending upward amid waning vaccine immunity.

However, the group said it is unclear how severe the next wave will be.

Key factors that will affect the next wave include how people react to relaxed public health measures, how much immunity to Omicron is in the community and how long it lasts, and uptake on fourth booster doses of vaccine for people aged 70 and up.

Since the start of the pandemic, B.C. has reported 358,788 cases in total.