The total, which includes both serious cases of coronavirus that require hospitalization, as well as cases between people who were hospitalized for other reasons, is 40 compared to the equivalent of last Thursday.
This graph shows the number of test-positive COVID-19 patients in BC hospitals on Thursdays, beginning January 20, 2022, when the province began to include randomized hospitalizations as a whole.  (CTV)
However, the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units in the province fell slightly, from 38 last week to 36 on Thursday.
The latest data comes after the first full week without daily updates on COVID-19 cases, hospitalization or deaths by the provincial government, and as Canada’s top doctor describes the country as the “sixth wave” of the pandemic.

NEW CASES AND HOSPITALS

The weekly update from the BCCDC shows that there were 233 new imports from 3 to 9 April.  It also reviews all of last week’s new hospitalizations from 193 initially reported to 230. 
The number of new cases for the week of March 27 to April 2, meanwhile, has been revised slightly down from 1,706 to 1,703.
During the most recent data week, April 3 to 9, the BCCDC reported 1,770 new cases.
This set only includes “laboratory confirmed, laboratory probable and associated cases”, however, which means that cases confirmed by rapid antigen testing – the only type of testing available to most British Colombians with COVID-19 symptoms – are not included .
Residents who test positive can not even report this information to the BCCDC, which recently discontinued its online test report form. 
This means that the true number of COVID-19 infections in BC is not known, nor is it known.

What is known, based on data collected and published by the province on a weekly basis, is that infections and hospitalizations have increased.
Deaths are also rising, according to the BCCDC, although it should be noted that the province now reports deaths based on “all-cause mortality within 30 days”, meaning that anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 within 30 days of their death, even if their death is not related to COVID-19.
However, when the province released its first version of this death toll last week, there were 11 such deaths between March 27 and April 2.
This week, this total has been revised up to 20 and the total for the most recent week – April 3 to 9 – has been posted as 23. This total is also expected to increase “as the data becomes more complete”, according to BCCDC.
Similarly, wastewater monitoring, which is used to assess the overall impact of COVID-19 on the community, has seen viral loads increase in recent weeks.
Of the five sewage treatment plants in the Lower Continent that are regularly inspected for COVID-19, four had seen at least three consecutive weeks of viral load increase since Thursday, according to the BCCDC’s weekly Status Report. 
The fifth has seen “variable” viral loads that do not show a clear trend, although COVID-19 levels remain “elevated”, according to the BCCDC.

VACCINATION ELEMENTS

On the vaccination front, BCCDC data show that the province administered 25,916 new doses from April 3 to April 9, or an average of about 3,700 per day.
The vast majority of new doses were second shots or boosters.  Only 2,564 first doses were given during the week.
Across the county, about 91 percent of people age five and older have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 88 percent have had two.  About 60 percent of adults have received the booster vaccine.

VACCINATION, AGE AND RISK

As health care providers in BC and elsewhere move from public health suspensions to an emphasis on individual responsibility as the primary strategy for limiting coronavirus transmission, age remains the single highest risk factor for serious complications from COVID-19. 
The median age for deaths attributed to COVID-19 in BC was 82 on April 2, according to the BCCDC.
Among the inhabitants of BC  70 years of age and older, more than 10 times more have received three doses of the vaccine than those who have not been vaccinated.
Relatively, the vaccinated and assisted elderly in this age group are responsible for many more cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths from the non-vaccinated group, which is largely due to the much larger number of people who have been vaccinated by three no one.
By looking at the numbers on a per capita basis, ages 70 and up have been infected with the coronavirus at about the same rate, regardless of vaccination status.  There were 274 cases per 100,000 unvaccinated people aged 70 and over in BC.
However, unvaccinated seniors were more than twice as likely to be hospitalized during this period.  There were 148 hospitalizations per 100,000 in the unvaccinated, compared to 63 per 100,000 in the assisted.
In terms of ICU admissions and deaths, the gap was even bigger.  The unvaccinated elderly were admitted to the ICU at a rate of 22 per 100,000 from March 13 to April 9, while those with booster vaccines were admitted at a rate of only 7 per 100,000.
For deaths, the rates were 29 per 100,000 among unvaccinated groups and 7 per 100,000 among those vaccinated.