COVID-19 waning inprovince with decreasing hospital admissions and deaths, BCCDC data shows

New data suggest a recent surge in COVID-19 activity in British Columbia appears to be waning, with the number of hospital admissions, deaths and positive tests all down sharply.

An update released by the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) on Thursday says there were 144 new COVID hospitalizations in the week ending Nov. 4, fewer than half the 296 hospitalizations three weeks earlier.

Among those tested for COVID-19 under the province's medical services plan, positive tests dropped to 15.8 per cent, compared with a peak of 23.4 per cent five weeks earlier.

There were 36 deaths among people with COVID-19 last week, down from a peak of 70 two weeks earlier, although the BCCDC cautions the information in both weeks is preliminary.

The centre says COVID activity appears to have peaked in early October, according to a summary of data.

Influenza activity has slightly increased but is still low and at a level comparable with before the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.