Hospitalizations creep up as B.C. reports 5 more in acute care with COVID-19 and 2 more deaths

B.C. health officials reported260 people in hospital with COVID-19 on Friday, including 50 in intensive care,as the province recorded twomore deaths from the disease and 218new cases.

The new numbers represent anincreaseof fiveCOVID-19 patients hospitalized within the last 24 hours, including twofewerpatients in the ICU.

It's the second time this week that hospitalizations haverisenafter falling steadily since Feb. 7.

Overall hospitalizations, which typically lag behind spikes and dips in new cases, are down by 10.3per cent from last Friday, when 290people were in hospital with the disease and down 56.6 per cent from a month ago when 599people were in hospital.

The number of patients in intensive care is upby 8.7per cent from 46a week ago and downnearly 48 per cent from a month ago when 96 people were in the ICU.

The provincialdeath toll from COVID-19is now 2,983lives lost out of 355,092confirmed cases to date.

There are three new outbreaks in assisted living, long-term, and acute care facilities, bringing the total to seven, including an acute care outbreak atSurrey Memorial Hospital.

As of Friday,90.8 per cent of those five and older in B.C. hadreceived their first dose of aCOVID-19 vaccineand 87.2 per cent asecond dose.

From March 17 to 23, people who were not fully vaccinated accounted for 15.8 per cent of cases and from March 10 to 23,they accounted for 26.2 per cent of hospitalizations, according to the province.

A total of 2,553,879 million people have received a booster shot to date.

Feds provide additional $2Bto clear surgical backlogs

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced Friday that the federal government will send another $2 billion to provinces and territories to help clear the health-care backlog created by the years-long pandemic crisis.

Over the last two years, provinces and territories have cancelled hundreds of thousands of "elective" surgeries leaving many Canadians waiting for hip replacements, cataract surgery or cancer treatments, among dozens of other procedures.

The surgeries were cancelled as hospitals scrambled to shift resources to deal with the crushing COVID caseload.