B.C. hospitalization numbers up as COVID spread continues

COVID-19 hospitalization numbers are on the rise in B.C., but things appear to be vastly different than in previous waves, and some experts are urging people to look at the situation with context.

The highly-transmissible Omicron variant continues to spread in B.C., and health officials have warned it’s likely most people will be affected by the virus in one way or another.

As of Tuesday, Jan. 4, there were 298 people in hospital who had tested positive for COVID-19 — a 35 per cent jump from Friday. The last time we saw this many people hospitalized was at the start of December.

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But one doctor in Metro Vancouver notes the figures on their own don’t always tell the full story.

“I admitted multiple patients with covid this weekend. All will be home by tomorrow,” Dr. Kevin Mcleod, an Internal Medicine specialist in the North Shore, wrote on Twitter Tuesday.

“This is not the same as previous waves. Patients are recovering quickly especially if vaccinated. Don’t look at hospitalizations out of context. It’s more nuanced than reported numbers.”

I admitted multiple patients with covid this weekend. All will be home by tomorrow. This is not the same as previous waves. Patients are recovering quickly especially if vaccinated. Don’t look at hospitalizations out of context. It’s more nuanced than reported numbers.

— Kevin Mcleod (@dockevinmcleod) January 5, 2022

In his Twitter thread, he notes some people who came to the hospital over the weekend needed to be admitted — but not because of their COVID-positive status.

“Don’t draw conclusions in the numbers if you aren’t actually in the system seeing it first hand,” he added.

Mcleod has taken to social media to document his experience as a frontline worker throughout the pandemic. He’s been vocal in his calls for more support for health-care workers, and has also repeatedly urged the public to heed pleas from public health officials to slow the spread of COVID-19.

“Covid is airborne. Cloth masks don’t help. Medical masks barely help. N95s should be standard now if you are high risk,” Mcleod said in a separate thread Tuesday, echoing calls from many other frontline workers. “Government could rebuild trust if they handed them out to those in need at vaccination clinics, chemo clinics, and in hospital settings.”

He has also urged officials to be more transparent in their release of data.