B.C. moves from daily to weekly COVID-19 updates

British Columbia is transitioning from daily to weekly COVID-19 reporting.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) will start releasing weekly updates on Thursday, April 7. The first report will include data up to the week of March 27 to April 2.

The reports will look similar to other communicable disease reports with focuses on key measures of severity and trends over time.

The province said the new system will continue to provide date required to guide public health decision-making while allowing the public to see an accurate picture of the COVID-19 pandemic impacts in their area.

With the transition, the reporting with shift away from a “case-management” model to a “surveillance” approach .

The case data included in the new reports will be based on an individual’s first PCR test through the Medical Services Plan.

Hospitalization reporting will move from the “currently in hospital” metric to a broader administrative data model, which will likely lead to an initial increase in the number of cases in hospital.

Death reporting will change to rely on data from Vital Statistics, the agency that registers all deaths in B.C.

The weekly COVID-19 reports will continue to include data on the epidemiological trends and comparisons; case data, including variants and outbreaks; and vaccine reports, including immunization coverage.

The transition to the new reporting model will not result in any changes to previous reports.