After a drop last week, lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Burnaby went up during the newest reporting period
The city saw 91 cases from May 1 to 7, 2022, according to the latest available Geographic Distribution of COVID-19 by Local Health Area of Case Residence report.
It's a 20% increase compared to the previous report that showed 76 new infections confirmed in the city from April 24 to 30, 2022.
Are COVID-19 symptoms changing?
And while fewer people are visiting clinics to get tested for COVID-19, it seems many are utilizing the HealthLink BC phone line for guidance on whether or not they have symptoms of the virus.
The number of COVID-19 patients in B.C. hospitals has risen by 46 in the past week, to 596 on Thursday (May 12), which is the highest count since February 25, when there were 599 such patients.
But most people who test positive for the virus will not end up in the hospital — and some may even present decidedly mild symptoms.
Dr. Brian Conway, medical director at the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre and assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the UBC, told Glacier Media people should continue to look out for respiratory COVID-19 symptoms.
"It remains a respiratory illness: cough, shortness of breath...and viral components to it, headaches, muscle aches, things like that. That remains there," he explained.
The doctor noted, however, that vaccinated people may have "quite mild" symptoms, such as a scratchy throat, mild cough and sneezing.
"I would recommend to someone who is nauseated to go get a COVID test," he said, noting that many people who test positive feel well aside from an upset stomach.
But Conway can't say for certain whether the symptoms of Omicron are different or if they appear different because such a high percentage of the population is vaccinated. Moreover, there are multiple variants of the Omicron strain circulating throughout the population.
- with files from Elana Shepert, Vancouver Is Awesome
