2021-12-27/28 BC

Testing

This article says that any self-reported positives on rapid antigen tests which get submitted via the province’s survey (which I posted a few days ago) do not get reported in the province’s daily numbers. (I guess that’s because if they did, malicious actors would artificially inflate the numbers?) There is a user-driven site where you can self report, however.


Most Vancouver drive-through PCR testing sites are closed because of the cold weather. Apparently the testers’ hands get too cold; they can’t wear warm gloves because they have to change latex gloves for every patient.

Statistics

The province is providing very little data:

  • Dec. 24-25: 2,552 new cases
  • Dec. 25-26: 2,023 new cases
  • Dec. 26-27: 1,713 new cases
  • Dec. 27-28: 1,785 new cases

That’s it. No information on deaths, hospitalizations, vaccinations, number of Omicron cases. And don’t believe those numbers, because the testing is maxed out or not as many people got tested over the holidays. The thing that really matters now is hospitalizations, and we have no data on that.

We could look at other countries for a preview of what’s likely to happen here. Denmark and Norway are similar in many ways to BC, with socialist governments and high vaccination rates, but they got Omicron before we did.

Takeaway: Omicron might be mild, but it isn’t mild enough to keep the hospitalization rates down. Yes, because Omicron is so widespread, some of those patients are going to be admitted with COVID-19 instead of for COVID-19, but

  • Some of the patients are going to be “with” COVID-19 and
  • even if it is only “with” COVID-19, the hospitals still have to take special precautions with them. (And before you say, “But Omicron is mild”, some of the cases are going to be Delta, and Omicron is not benign in unvaccinated people. See the General blog post.)

So I still think we’re in for a rough few months.