COVID-19: Cases in B.C. hospitals climb 17 per cent to highest since mid-August

The number of cases of COVID-19 in B.C. hospitals pushed sharply upward Thursday, even as recent admissions appeared to hold relatively steady.

Data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control showed 367 COVID-positive patients in hospital as of Sept. 29, a nearly 17-per cent jump over last week. There were 30 cases in critical care, a 36-per cent jump over last week.

2:07 B.C. could move 1,000+ patients out of hospitals

B.C.’s hospitalization model counts all cases in hospital, regardless of their reason for admission.

The province’s test-positivity rate as of Sept. 24 was seven per cent, up 0.3 per cent over the week prior.

Hospital admission tracking for the week ending Sept. 24 showed the situation remaining relatively steady.

That week saw 150 patients admitted across the province, down from 155 last week, but higher than the two weeks prior.

The weekly admission data is preliminary, and is typically revised upward the following week.

For the period ending Sept. 24, the BCCDC also reported 16 deaths — a figure that is also typically revised upward the following week.

Understanding the true fatality rate of COVID-19 in the province remains a complex problem.

2:01 Province warns of likely COVID-19, influenza surge this fall

The province acknowledges that its model of reporting COVID-19 deaths, which includes anyone who died within 30 days of testing positive, overestimates fatalities, and subsequent review has determined only about four in 10 of such reported deaths were actually caused by the virus.

According to the latest B.C. COVID-19 Situation Report, there were 1,259 reported COVID deaths between April 2 and Sept. 17.

Of those reported deaths, reviews found 498 (39.5 per cent) were actually caused by COVID-19, while 654 were not. Another 107 remained under investigation.

Those figures suggest the virus was behind about 2.94 deaths per day since the spring.

The vast majority of deaths with COVID as the underlying cause (448 of them, or 89.9 per cent) were among people over the age of 70.