COVID hospitalizations in B.C. level off but ICU cases rise

There are 985 people in hospital with COVID in B.C., 144 of whom are in intensive care.

The hospitalization rate is down by two from where it was yesterday, but the number in intensive care is up by 15.

Those numbers were included in a Ministry of Health news release issued today, Jan. 25. They include everyone with a positive COVID test. It’s estimated that 45% of them have mild or no symptoms.

READ MORE: Vaccine passports stay in place in B.C. while youth sports tournaments set to return

There were 1,446 B.C. residents who tested positive with PCR COVID tests in the last 24 hours, including 319 in the Interior Health region.

There were 508 cases reported in the Fraser Health region, 309 in Vancouver Coastal, 163 on Vancouver Island and 147 in the Northern Health region.

Since most B.C. residents with COVID are told they don’t need to get tested or have rapid tests, the actual number of cases is likely three to four times higher, health officials have said.

There was one new death, in Fraser Health.

Since the start of the pandemic in B.C., 2,554 people have died.

READ MORE: COVID-19: A timeline of the pandemic and how it changed our lives over the past two years

There are 32,468 active cases in the province.

The vaccination rate for people over the age of 12 is 92.6% with at least one dose and 89.9% with at least two doses and 41.3% with three doses.

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