British Columbia is experiencing a spike in COVID-19 numbers, with cases, test-positivity, hospitalizations and deaths up in recent weeks.
The BC Centre for Disease Control said in a monthly report that 447 people came up positive in tests funded by the province’s medical services plan in the week ending Sept. 2, more than triple the 133 cases in the week ending Aug. 12. Positivity doubled to about 18 per cent in the same period.
The increase in COVID-19 numbers comes after the detection of Canada’s first known case of the BA. 2.86 variant last month in B.C., but the centre said that remains the province’s only known case of the new strain.
On Sept. 7, a total of 241 people with COVID-19 were in hospital across the province, with weekly admissions spiking from 95 in the week ending Aug. 12 to 136 two weeks later, before dipping to 119 new cases.
The centre says the number of deaths rose from eight in the first week of the reporting period to 15, then dipped to 12.
Over the past four weeks, four COVID-19 outbreaks were reported in acute care facilities and one outbreak was reported in a long-term care facility.
Also, B.C.’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza are expected to hit British Columbians this fall.
“There’s things we can control and things we can’t control,” she told Global News. “One of the things we can’t control is the fact that viruses circulate and they tend to come in the winter months here in North America, so we need to be prepared for that.”
The B.C. government hopes to roll out a monovalent vaccine campaign against the XBB 1.5 subvariant in September or October. That vaccine is working its way through Health Canada’s approval process.
The National Advisory Council on Immunization is recommending a fall booster shot, particularly for those over the age of 65, who live in long-term care homes, who are pregnant, or at high risk from other underlying medical conditions. The booster is also encouraged for Indigenous peoples, members of racialized communities and essential workers.
The council said the booster should be taken at least six months after any previous dose.
Henry also advised anyone who lives with someone they need to protect — someone who can’t take the vaccine, for example, or who is not able to receive as much immunity from it — to get a booster as well.
Last year, hospital wait times soared in many parts of the province as COVID-19, RSV and flu cases rose.
While concern is warranted about what’s coming this fall, infectious diseases expert Dr. Brian Conway said he’s “cautiously optimistic” B.C. has the tools to handle it.
“The first tool is vaccination and I would encourage all parents to consider getting their children vaccinated as soon as the new COVID vaccine and the new flu shot are available,” Conway said Tuesday.
“Second, to keep their kids home if they’re sick. We do those two things — we will do far better than I think some people expect.”
— With files from Canadian Press, Elizabeth McSheffrey and Richard Zussman
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