B.C. reports 19 fewer people in hospital with COVID-19, 3 more in the ICU and 8 more deaths over the weekend

B.C. health officials reported 271 people in hospital with COVID-19 on Monday, including 49 in intensive care, as the province recorded eight more deaths from the disease and 506 new cases over the weekend.

The new numbers represent a decreaseof 19COVID-19 patients hospitalized since Friday, including threemorepatients in the ICU.

Overall hospitalizations, which typically lag behind spikes and dips in new cases, are down by 24.5 per centfrom last Monday, when 359 people were in hospital with the disease and down about 60.6per cent from a month ago when 688 people were in hospital.

The number of patients in intensive care is down by two cases from 51a week ago and down by 54.6 per cent from a month ago when 108 people were in the ICU.

The provincialdeath toll from COVID-19is now 2,974lives lost out of 354,084confirmed cases to date.

There area total of eight active outbreaks in assisted living, long-term, and acute care facilities, with a new outbreak declared at Selkirk Seniors Village in Victoria.

As of Monday,90.8 per cent of those five and older in B.C. hadreceived their first dose of aCOVID-19 vaccineand 87 per cent asecond dose.

From March 11 to 17, people who were not fully vaccinated accounted for 16.8 per cent of cases and from March 4 to 17,they accounted for 26.1 per cent of hospitalizations, according to the province.

A total of 2.64 million people have received a booster shot to date.

Another surge may be on horizon

Although COVID-19 is no longer top of mind for many Canadians, experts say there is a chance we'll see another surge in infections in coming weeks.

There are still more cases and hospitalizations now than at some of the worst points of the pandemic.A recentrise in global COVID-19 cases, the spread of a more contagious Omicron subvariant and a spike in early surveillance signals across Canada has experts increasingly worried.

"As public health measures ease, increased levels of transmission are not unexpected since the SARS-CoV-2 virus is still circulating widely,"Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Friday.

It's unclear how much the coronavirus is circulating due to a rapid drop in testing, but other metrics such as wastewater data and hospitalizations suggest levels remain high.

"Even though we're in a much better place now than we were one or two months ago, there's still a lot of COVID around and there's still a lot of people in hospital with COVID," said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases physician at Toronto General Hospital.

"Sadly, this is not over yet."

Rapid tests for those 30and older

Free rapid antigen tests are now available at pharmacies for all B.C. residents 30 years and older, as long as they have a personal health number.

It is another step in the province'sage-based rapid test rolloutthat began late last month, with more age groups set to be eligible over the coming weeks. The province said that 2.3 million rapid tests have been distributed so far.

Eligible peoplecan locate a pharmacyon this list, and receive a kit with five tests in it, every 28 days.

The province said anyone picking up a box of rapid tests should not have symptoms while doing so. Anyone who is symptomatic is encouraged to seek a test through testing sites.