The number of COVID-19 cases in B.C. hospitals has fallen since last week, but test positivity continues to trend upward province-wide, according to the latest B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) data.
As of Jan. 5, there were 356 positive cases in hospital, down from 386 on Friday. The number of cases in critical care also fell from 34 to 25.
The province’s hospitalization model counts all cases in hospitals, regardless of the patient’s initial reason for admission.
While hospitalizations were down, data up to Dec. 31 showed the percentage of lab tests returning positive results climbing to double-digits in all B.C. health regions.
Throughout the pro ince, the seven-day average for test positivity sat at 14.5 per cent to end December, up from 9.8 per cent on Dec. 3.
The Vancouver Coastal Health region returned the highest percentage of positive cases, at 16.4 per cent, followed by Fraser Health at 14.3 per cent.
Lab testing, however, remains severely restricted in B.C., focusing on the most high-risk groups. For the week ending Dec. 31, British Columbia performed fewer than 5,900 lab tests.
The BCCDC offered no update on the XBB 1.5 variant Thursday. As of Wednesday, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said 12 cases had been confirmed in the province, but admitted the number was likely significantly higher.
For the week ending Dec. 31, the BCCDC reported 123 hospital admissions.
This figure is preliminary and typically increased by more than 20 per cent the following week. However, BCCDC data shows the seven-day average for new hospital admissions steadily declining across the month of December.
The BCCDC reported just 13 new deaths for the week ending Dec. 31, though this figure, too, comes with multiple caveats.
Like hospital admissions, the number is typically revised upward the following week. However, B.C.’s fatality model counts all deaths that occur within 30 days of a person’s first positive COVID-19 test, which officials admit overcounts fatalities.
Subsequent analysis has found about four in 10 deaths reported this way since April were actually caused by COVID.