Omicron may have peaked, but hospitalizations rising: Dr. Henry

• Omicron spread quickly from younger to older people
• Dr. Henry says even vaccinated older people at risk
• Over 58,000 booster doses in last day

British Columbia appears to have seen a peak in Omicron COVID-19 cases, but the number of hospitalizations is still a concern.

This as another 2,275 new cases were reported in B.C., 412 of those across Interior Health. There was a daily jump in regional hospitalizations.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer, told a news conference on Friday they are starting to see a decrease in new cases.

“So, we think we hit the peak of community transmission in B.C., probably this past weekend. That’s important. There is a number of different indicators that allow us to say that with some certainty. But we are still at the point where our hospitalization rate is still going up,” Henry said.

Henry said their modelling shows once cases peak, it normally takes a week before new admissions to hospitals plateau.

“And then there is a lag of about another week before we start to see a decrease in hospital census.”

The public health officer said there will be no changes to the current public health orders, and that it will be a “challenging next few weeks on hospitals.”

“We know the peak is coming at the same time that we’re still seeing health care workers off work, not being able to go to work.”

Henry added the transmission rates are not the same in all of B.C., noting Omicron took off first in Vancouver Coastal, Fraser Health and on Vancouver Island first.

“We’re now starting to see it slow down a bit in Interior Health, and in Northern Health, we’re still on that upward trajectory. Omicron moved into that part later than other parts of the province, but it really is the highly populous Lower Mainland that is driving the epidemic curve for B.C.”

Henry said the Omicron wave started in younger people in their 20s and 30s and then moved into older age groups, which is similar to the previous COVID waves.

“But this has been much faster than we’ve seen in any other wave.”

Severe illness in plus-70s

Henry said they are seeing an increase in hospitalizations for younger people (0-19), and more concerning, a dramatic increase in people over age 70 who are having severe illness and ending up in hospital and some dying.

“Even with two vaccine doses, there is still a risk in older people because as they don’t mount as strong an immune response, so even if you have two doses, it’s really important to get a booster dose.”

The province’s top doctor said there are about 50,000 people over age 70 that have had two doses but not a booster yet.

“Whatever age you are, hospitalization is much higher if you don’t have any immune priming or protection from vaccinations.”

Henry stated that two-thirds of people who have died from COVID in the last month are people who were not vaccinated.

Omicron different for the younger kids

Also on Friday, Henry said the Omicron cases in younger people have shown a different pattern.

“It’s more of an upper respiratory illness. It behaves more like some of the other respiratory viruses and triggers things like asthma, airway disease and bronchiolitis in young children, so that’s most commonly the reason why they’re in hospital.”

Henry stated the province has seen a large increase in respiratory viruses, much like a normal season.

“We still have a little bit of influenza, not a lot this year, but it’s out there, and it’s causing illness in young people.”

The doctor said people admitted to hospital for an Omicron infection tend to have a shorter hospital stay and less severe illness than those with the Delta variant, with the median length of stay about half what it was with Delta and the need for critical care is down by about two-thirds.

Booster bump and staff absenteeism

Health Minister Adrian Dix is pleased with the number of people getting booster doses.

“Over the last week, 319,752 booster doses have been administered in B.C., an extraordinary achievement. Yesterday was a record number with 58,685. That’s just booster doses,” Dix reported.

The minister said from Jan. 3-9, 21,517 health care workers were off sick due to illness of all kinds including COVID-19. From Jan. 10-12, the number was 11,010.

To put that in perspective, there are 188,000 active health care workers in B.C.

“So there are a lot of health care workers, but this is still a lot of people who are affected in some way by sickness,” Dix remarked.

IH hospitalizations increase

On Friday the province reported 2,275 new cases of the virus, 412 of those across Interior Health.

There were 72 people in the region's hospitals, a jump of 30 from the previous day. There were 12 people in critical care, a decrease of seven compared to Wednesday's figures.

Pete McIntyre / Vernon Matters