the number of people in b.c. hospitals with covid-19 jumped by 35 per cent in the last week as health experts warn of another omicron wave.
on thursday, 369 people were in hospital with the virus, up from last week’s 273. out of the 369, 36 are in critical care.
this is the first increase in hospitalization figures since early may.
sarah otto of the independent covid-19 modelling group in b.c. had said
the third omicron wave has begun and is expected to peak in august
, driven by the growth of the omicron subvariants ba.4 and ba.5, which will soon outgrow the initial omicron subvariants in canada.
the health ministry is holding a news conference on friday to provide an update on the province’s immunization plan. health minister adrian dix, dr. martin lavoie, b.c.’s acting provincial health officer, and dr. penny ballem, executive lead of the province’s immunization plan are expected to attend.
the most recent data from the b.c. centre for disease control, which releases its weekly update on the state of covid-19 in the province every thursday, show 765 cases were reported from june 26 to july 2, up from 620 the week before.
the number of reported cases does not reflect the true number of cases as the province has limited pcr testing capacity and does not include the results of at-home rapid test kits, which is the type of testing most available to most british columbians.