Hospitalizations in BC expected to remain high until March due to increased illness
Emergency operation centres (EOCs) reopened in 20 BC hospitals on Monday, following a surge in hospitalizations blamed on the flu and respiratory viruses, COVID-19, and the province’s ongoing toxic drug crisis.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said at the end of December, there were more than 9,600 people in the hospital at a time when the province would expect way fewer people than that needing care.
He said last week that number spiked even higher, following New Year’s Day, to more than 10,000 patients in the hospital.
Dix said despite those numbers trending down slightly, the stress on the healthcare system is too great, and the EOCs will be implemented to help staff.
“If patients need to leave the hospital and [are] ready to leave the hospital, they have the support necessary… and there’s a series of measures that have already been taken to do that,” he said.
The centres will be in place for six weeks at BC Children’s Hospital, Lions Gate, Richmond, St. Paul’s, Vancouver General, Nanaimo Regional General, Royal Jubilee, and Victoria General. Read the full list here.
Typically the most challenging periods for healthcare are January and February. As many gathered to celebrate the holidays together in person, more virus cases are likely in the coming weeks.
He says the emergency operations centres will assist in that and those on the frontlines who are working to meet these capacity concerns.
“Over the next two weeks, through the EOC structures, health authorities will reduce overall hospital occupancy and ensure emergency departments have available patient care beds for acutely ill patients,” the province said.
BC’s hospitals continue to face a challenging respiratory season and a rise in COVID-19 cases.
It comes as another variant appears to be spreading in the province, which has been seen to be grabbing hold in the US.
As of Friday, there were 12 cases of the Kraken COVID-19 XBB.1.5 subvariant in the province and more than 21 highly contagious variants across the country.
At this time, Health Canada has not classified the subvariant as a variant of concern and says vaccinations are the best course of defence against it.
- You might also like:
- NEWS CORONAVIRUS CANADA Canada confirms 21 detections of Kraken COVID-19 variant
- Doctors slam Canada's negative COVID test requirement for travellers from China
- Thailand introduces COVID-19 vaccine requirements for foreign travellers
- BC just made it $3,700 cheaper for foreign-trained nurses to get certified
With files from Megan Devlin