COVID-19: B.C. hospitalizations dip under 300, records seven deaths
Posted March 17, 2022 5:58 pm.
Last Updated March 17, 2022 5:59 pm.
Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 continued to drop in B.C. Thursday, but seven more people have died of the illness.
The health ministry reported a drop from 329 people in hospital to 298 in the last day with 49 of them in intensive care.
The ministry said that during the first two weeks of the month, people who were not fully vaccinated accounted for 27.6 per cent of hospitalizations.
With the province recording another seven deaths, the death toll increased to 2,960.
It added 240 new cases have been diagnosed, but a lack of testing capacity and the fact that positive results from rapid antigen tests are not always reported suggests the official number of cases is unreliable.
NEW: BC is reporting 240 (+5) new cases of #COVID19 in the past 24 hours along with seven (-1) more deaths. Of the active cases, 298 (-31) are in the hospital, of whom 49 (-2) are in the ICU. #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/2TozpdHliB
— John Ackermann ???? (@jackermann) March 17, 2022
While 91.3 per cent of eligible adults in B.C. have received their second dose of a vaccine, only 58.7 per cent have had a third shot.
Meanwhile, the provincial government has appointed a three-person team to conduct an independent review of its operational response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said Wednesday the aim of the review is to help the province prepare for and respond to future emergencies.
The province said the team will hold consultations with government agencies, First Nations and independent regulators and is also accepting written feedback from residents until April 20.
It said the scope of the review does not include an assessment of public policy or provincial health or economic recovery decisions, but it will look at how those choices were made.
