Reports of new COVID-19 cases in the Kelowna area fell by half last week, while the number remained constant in Penticton and Vernon.
There were 65 people who tested positive for the virus in the central Okanagan from January 17-23, up from 139 the previous week. This comes from new data released Thursday by the BC Center for Disease Control.
Penticton’s weekly count went from 11 to nine while Vernon’s remained unchanged at 59.
The number of new cases in Oliver-Osoyoos fell from 10 to six, while in Summerland the number fell from four to one.
Efforts to contain the virus appear to be working in Kelowna and Penticton, which reported 314 and 50 new cases, respectively, in the first week of January. Vernon went the other way from just 21 cases earlier in the month.
With the exception of Vernon, the new numbers also represent a huge improvement from early December, when BC’s second wave of COVID-19 peaked.
For the week from November 29th to December 29th. 5 there were 314 new cases in Central Okanagan, 21 in Vernon, 50 in Penticton, nine in Oliver-Osoyoos and eight in Summerland.
As of Thursday, a total of 6,080 cases of COVID-19 and 69 deaths had been recorded in the Interior Health region of around 750,000 residents.
Meanwhile, the British Columbia Department of Health announced 546 new cases of COVID-19 across the province on Thursday, up from 485 on Wednesday, but up from 564 a week earlier. Seventy of the new cases were in Interior Health residents.
BC reported 12 more deaths Thursday, bringing the total since the pandemic started to 1,184.
“In the past few weeks we’ve seen an increase in community clusters and corporate engagements, and we are reminding you that this is no time for business owners to shake things up,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry in a press release.
“WorkSafeBC and environmental health teams have stepped up inspections and will take whatever steps are necessary to keep communities safe, including closing a business if necessary.
“Equally important is that all companies that can host people to work from home make sure they continue to do so. The fewer people you see, the safer everyone becomes.”
