COVID hospitalizations down slightly but case counts climb in B.C.

There are 273 people in hospital in B.C. with a COVID-19 diagnosis today, March 29, a slight decrease from 288 yesterday.

The number in intensive care dropped by two to 46, according to a Ministry of Health news release.

About half the of people in hospital with a COVID diagnosis were not in 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.

In the last 24 hours there were 287 new COVID-19 cases reported in B.C., up from 152 yesterday.

There was also an increase in Interior Health region cases to 61 today from an average of 48 a day over the weekend.

In the last 24 hours there were 75 new cases in Fraser Health, 67 in Vancouver Coastal, 63 on Vancouver Island and 21 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 was one new death in the Northern Health region bringing the pandemic total at 2,990.

The vaccination rate for people over the age of 12 with at least one dose remains unchanged at 93.4%, as does the rate for those with at least two doses at 91% while those with three doses went up slightly to 57.5%.

 — This article was updated on March 30, 2022, at 10:20 a.m. to correct an error in hospitalization numbers.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submitphotos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.