As B.C. begins the busy holiday season of social gatherings, health officials are reporting a steady increase in respiratory illness, including respiratory syncytial virus and walking pneumonia in children.

RSV is up 10.3 per cent over last week, predominantly in children in the Lower Mainland, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control reported in an update Friday.

Flu cases remain low but are starting to rise with the number of cases reported nearly seven per cent higher than last week.

Cases of COVID-19, however, continue to drop along with hospital admissions and deaths. The CDC says there are about 84 people in hospital with COVID, down from 92 people last week and 121 people two weeks ago.