The Canadian Institute for Health Information says hospitalizations due to COVID-19 increased by 19 per cent over the last year, while emergency department visits due to the virus dropped over the same time period.

The data is being released publicly as health care officials shift from COVID response to dealing with other issues like surgical backlogs.

According to CIHI, between April of 2022 and March of 2023 there were more than 120,000 hospital stays in Canada for patients diagnosed with COVID-19. That was an increase from 101,000 the previous year. During the same period, more than 222,000 Emergency Room visits for COVID were reported by participating jurisdictions, that’s a drop from 262,000 the previous year.

CIHI says there was no data from Quebec on COVID hospitalizations.

Seniors over the age of 65 accounted for the largest increase in hospitalizations compared with the previous year, while the average total length of stay increased from 13 days to 20. Intensive care unit volumes dropped to 16,000 in 2022-23 from 21,000 the year before.

According to the data, more than 12,000 people hospitalized for COVID-19 died in hospital. That represents about 10 per cent of all COVID related hospitalizations. That’s down only slightly form the previous year when more than 11 per cent of people hospitalized for the virus died in hospital.

Director of Acute and Ambulatory Care Information Services with CIHI, Juliana Wu says the virus is continuing to have an impact on hospitals and Emergency Rooms across the country. That, she says helps planners and decision-makers understand the impacts and “inform resource planning as hospitals focus of addressing issues like surgical backlogs.”