The B.C. government is reactivating its emergency operation centres in each health authority as hospitalizations rise.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said the centers will be put in place on Monday at 20 hospitals in B.C.
The emergency operation centres were used throughout the pandemic and also during extreme weather events and wildfires.
Provincial officials said it will increase patient flow and they will be running for at least six weeks.
Scheduled surgeries are not being postponed, although provincial officials said there are always some exceptions.
There are currently 372 people in B.C. hospitalized with COVID-19 and 28 are in intensive care.
As of Thursday, there were also 223 people in hospitals with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) or the flu. Twenty-nine of them are in intensive care.
The hospitals are Abbotsford Regional, BC Children’s, East Kootenay Regional, Fort St. John and Peace Villa, Kelowna General, Kootenay Boundary Regional, Lions Gate, Mills Memorial, Nanaimo Regional General, Penticton Regional, Royal Columbian, Royal Inland, Royal Jubilee, Richmond, St. Paul’s, Surrey Memorial, University Hospital of Northern BC, Vancouver General, Vernon and Victoria General.
– with files from Josiah Spyker, My Kootenay Now staff
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