Number of people in intensive care in B.C. with COVID increases

While the COVID pandemic continues to slowly fade in B.C., one area that is not improving much is for those who suffer the most serious effects of the disease.

The number of people in hospital with COVID decreased to 271 today, March 21, from 290 on Friday but the number in intensive care climbed to 49 today from 46 on Friday.

About half the patients in hospital with a COVID diagnosis were not there because of COVID, but were tested after going to hospital for things like surgery, delivering a baby or being admitted to a mental health unit.

Over the weekend, there were 506 new COVID cases recorded in B.C. with 200 reported on Saturday, 170 on Sunday and 136 in the last 24 hours, according to a Ministry of Health news release.

Of the new cases, 168 were in Interior Health, 114 in Fraser Health, 74 in Vancouver Coastal, 98 on Vancouver Island and 52 in the Northern Health region.

The real number of cases is estimated to be three to four times higher because many people infected with COVID are not getting tested or take rapid tests that are not included in these figures.

There were eight more deaths in the last 24 hours, none in the Interior Health region, bringing the pandemic total to 2,974.

The vaccination rate for people over the age of 12 with at least one dose remains unchanged at 93.4%, while the rate for those with at least two doses climbed slightly to 91% while the 57% who have three doses is also up slightly.

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