Photo: Contributed
The care home’s worst outbreak inside is at Oliver’s McKinney Place, where 14 residents have died of COVID-19.
More than half of the 38 people who died of COVID-19 inside BC were residents of nursing homes.
The BCCDC released weekly reports of COVID-19 data on nursing homes this week, breaking down the number of deaths and cases in nursing home outbreaks in the province.
There are currently nine nursing home outbreaks in the Interior Health region – one in Kelowna, one in West Kelowna, three in Vernon, one in Penticton, two in Oliver, and one in Williams Lake.
To date, 180 residents of nursing homes and 60 employees in those nursing homes have contracted the virus, and 23 residents have died from the disease.
These deaths account for about 60 percent of the 38 deaths in the Interior Health region. Seven other minor outbreaks in local nursing homes have been declared over and there have been no deaths from these outbreaks.
The worst outbreak to date was at Oliver’s McKinney Place nursing home, where 54 of the 59 residents and 23 employees contracted the virus. Fourteen residents died.
This outbreak was first reported by Interior Health on December 6, after eight residents tested positive for the virus. The number of cases in the nursing home rose rapidly, and from December 15, so did the deaths. Interior Health said last month they did not know how the virus got into the nursing home, but the less private rooms at the facility may have contributed to the rapid spread.
The first inland care home residents received COVID-19 vaccinations on Friday at McKinney Place and at the Sunnybank care home, also located in Oliver.
Nationwide, around 61 percent of the 988 COVID deaths in BC were among nursing home residents. The worst nursing home outbreak in the province is at Little Mountain Place in Vancouver, where 41 of the 114 residents have died from the virus.
These numbers show why nursing home residents and staff were some of the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. As of Friday, 46,259 British Columbians had received their first dose of one of the two vaccines approved for use in Canada.
BC did not disclose how many of these vaccinations were given in nursing homes.
