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Tag: hospitalizations

B.C. posts highest COVID-19 hospitalizations since January in latest monthly update

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in B.C. has risen to its highest level since January, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control’s latest monthly update.

There were 214 test-positive COVID patients in provincial hospitals as of Thursday, according to the BCCDC. That’s the second-highest total the agency has published all year, only slightly below the 219 seen on Jan. 4, the first – and still highest – total reported in 2024.

Thursday’s update showed the number of lab-confirmed cases rose each week in August, with 365 new positive tests recorded during the week of Aug. 4 to 10 and 462 recorded last week.

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Montreal General Hospital dealing with summertime COVID-19 outbreak

There is a COVID-19 outbreak on the 18th floor of the Montreal General Hospital as Quebec and other jurisdictions see a rise in infections.

The hospital has implemented a mandatory mask policy for everyone on that unit and everyone on the floor is being monitored for symptoms.

Overall, the numbers for positive tests for COVID-19 in Quebec are up from 448 in April to 745 yesterday. That’s still far below the 3,000 we had a day in early January.

The 22 deaths reported by the province’s public health institute, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) during the week of June 30 is still far below the 100 a week Quebec was seeing a year ago.

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Slight increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations in Quebec

New variants are beginning to affect the number of COVID-19-related hospitalizations, Santé publique notes, but it is not concerned about the situation at this time.

“For the week ending July 5, we had 331 hospitalizations. The week before, it was 291. So it went up by about 14%,” says the national director of public health, Dr. Luc Boileau, in an interview with Le Devoir.

Those affected are mainly seniors, he said, noting that nearly half of the 331 Quebecers hospitalized are 80 years of age or older. “We have new variants, the KP.2 and KP.3, which have gradually settled in Quebec and are taking up all the space,” explains Dr. Boileau.

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Analysis: Quebec in midst of new COVID-19 summer wave

Quebec is now witnessing — as is the case across North America — an uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations, reinforcing the notion that SARS-CoV-2 is still not yet a fully seasonal virus and sending vaccine manufacturers racing to develop COVID shots for this fall that will guard against the latest sub-variants.

The province reported a total of 671 hospitalizations with and for COVID-19 as of July 5. That’s up from a low of 400 such hospitalizations on April 20 in Quebec. The number of patients in emergency rooms testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 is also rising, according to the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ).

More and more Quebecers are testing positive for COVID-19, with the percentage rising to 12.9 per cent as of June 30, according to the INSPQ. That this is occurring during summer suggests that SARS-CoV-2 is still far from a seasonal virus like the flu, a view supported by doctors and experts in the field.

“COVID is not over,” Dr. Susan Kuo, a British Columbia family physician, told the CBC on Friday. “This is the summer. It’s July. It’s not usually a time that we’re seeing so many people that are sick. What this tells us is that COVID is not a seasonal virus.”

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B.C. COVID hospitalizations at highest level since January

It may not be on most people’s minds, but COVID-19 is on the rise again in B.C.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control released its monthly data on the disease Thursday, showing 204 test-positive patients in provincial hospitals. It’s only the second time all year that the hospitalized population has risen above 200, and the first time since early January.

The hospital census is more than double what it was at this time last year, when the BCCDC’s July update showed just 96 COVID patients receiving hospital care.

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UK Covid hospitalisations increase following emergence of new variant

Experts have warned that Covid “hasn’t gone away” after an uptick in infections and hospitalisations that is thought to have been caused by new variants of the virus.

A group of Covid mutations has recently emerged and is collectively referred to as FLiRT.

According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Covid hospital admissions increased by 24 per cent in the week to Sunday, with a rate of 3.31 per 100,000 people compared with 2.67 per 100,000 in the previous week.

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COVID-19 on the rise in Alberta as summer approaches

Albertans can expect a further COVID-19 bump, driven by yet another crop of new variants, experts are cautioning.

COVID cases, hospitalizations and positivity rates have been rising since April.

“Unlike other respiratory illnesses, we’re not really getting a summer reprieve,” said Sarah (Sally) Otto, a COVID-19 modeller and professor in the department of zoology at the University of British Columbia.

“We’re seeing this across Canada and globally, that there’s an uptick in cases. And that’s coming from these new variants [and the] evolution of this virus.”

The KP.2 and KP.3 variants, combined, now account for more than half of Alberta’s sequenced cases.

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Number hospitalized with COVID-19 in B.C. hits highest level since March

The number of COVID-19-positive patients in B.C. hospitals surged by 67 per cent during the month of May, according to data released by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control on Thursday.

The centre’s first update since May 2 shows 162 test-positive patients in B.C. hospitals, up from just 97 in the previous release.

The latest hospitalization total is the highest the BCCDC has reported since March 14, when there were 163 people hospitalized with the disease.

The data is also a notable shift from last June, when the number of COVID-positive patients in B.C. hospitals was plummeting.

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High-risk Albertans urged to get another vaccine dose as COVID-19 cases ticking up

After trending downward for several months, COVID-19 is on the upswing in Alberta once again.

The province’s respiratory virus dashboard shows a number of key indicators, including case counts, hospitalization numbers and positivity rates, are ticking up.

“Many jurisdictions in Canada have seen a slight bump in late April in the number of COVID cases, the positivity rate and also in their wastewater monitoring,” said Dr. Dan Gregson, an infectious diseases specialist in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary.

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New Brunswick mulls future of COVID-19 rapid tests, as virus kills 2, hospitalizes child under 4

New Brunswick is mulling the future of its COVID-19 rapid point-of-care testing program, as the virus claimed two more lives and hospitalized 17 people, including a child under four.

“Demand for rapid tests has been steadily declining since last fall, and the province is currently determining its next steps with regards to the COVID-19 tests,” said Department of Health spokesperson Sean Hatchard.

He made the comment in response to questions from CBC News about how much longer the province will continue to offer free rapid test kits and whether it’s considering phasing them out.

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COVID-19 kills 2 more in N.B., flu sends child under 4 and 2 youths to hospital

COVID-19 has killed two more New Brunswickers, while a child under four and two youths aged five to 19 are among those hospitalized by the flu, Tuesday’s Respiratory Watch report shows.

“COVID-19 activity remains moderate; some indicators (number of cases, percent positivity, and number of deaths) remained stable during the current reporting period,” April 7 to April 13, the report says.

Influenza activity decreased slightly, it says.

The two people who died from COVID during the reporting week were both aged 65 or older.

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COVID-19 kills New Brunswicker aged 45-64, 2 youth among those hospitalized by flu

A New Brunswicker aged 45 to 64 has died from COVID-19, while the flu sent eight people to the hospital, including two youth aged five to 19, updated data from the province Tuesday shows.

“COVID-19 activity remains moderate,” according to the Respiratory Watch report. “Some indicators (number of cases, percent positivity, and hospitalizations) decreased slightly during the current reporting period, between March 31 and April 6.

Influenza activity remained “relatively stable,” it says.

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B.C. COVID-19 hospitalizations up slightly as province launches latest vaccine campaign

The number of people in B.C. hospitals with COVID-19 rose slightly this week as the province began rolling out its latest vaccination campaign.

There were 141 test-positive COVID patients in hospitals across the province as of Thursday, according to the latest data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. That’s an increase of nine – or about 6.8 per cent – from last week’s total.

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Hospitalizations nudge upward in otherwise stable respiratory checkup

Ottawa is back in high-risk respiratory territory because of an increase in new hospitalizations.

COVID-19 and RSV trends are generally seen as low in the weekly respiratory update from Ottawa Public Health (OPH).

Flu wastewater readings and hospitalizations remain very high as this flu season stretches into spring.

OPH said there were 17 new COVID, flu and RSV hospitalizations the week starting March 24, and 27 the week starting March 31.

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3 COVID deaths recorded as N.B. cases increase slightly, child under 4 dies from flu

Three more New Brunswickers have died from COVID-19, and one child died of influenza, according to data from the province updated Wednesday.

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have slightly increased, while influenza hospitalizations remained steady in the period of March 17 to March 23, according to the provincial Respiratory Watch report.

“COVID-19 activity remains moderate; some indicators (number of cases, percent positivity, and hospitalizations) increased slightly,” the report says.

The person who died of influenza was four years old or younger.

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Number hospitalized with COVID-19 in B.C. hits new low for 2024 in latest update

The number of patients with COVID-19 in B.C. hospitals declined to its lowest level of 2024 in the latest data update from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

There were 133 test-positive patients in provincial hospitals as of Thursday, according to the BCCDC. The last published update to show a total lower than that was in August of last year, when the BCCDC reported just 76 patients hospitalized.

This week’s hospitalized population is less than half of what it was around this time last year. The final published update of March 2023 showed 294 patients in B.C. hospitals.

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3 more COVID deaths in New Brunswick, 4 youth among flu hospitalizations

Three more New Brunswickers have died from COVID-19, while no new influenza deaths have been reported, and hospitalizations for both viruses have decreased, updated data from the province Tuesday shows.

A child under four, and three youth aged five to 19 are among those hospitalized by the flu between March 10 and March 16, according to the Respiratory Watch report.

“COVID-19 activity remains moderate; some indicators (number of cases, percent positivity, and hospitalizations) decreased slightly during the current reporting period,” it says.

Influenza activity “slightly decreased” during the reporting week.

Of the three people who died, one was aged 45 to 64 and the other two were aged 65 or older.

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