COVID-19 moving out of southern Interior and into the north: IH

Cases of COVID-19 are shifting from the South and Central Okanagan into the north, according to local health authorities.

Interior Health (IH) explained in an updated Jan. 20 that COVID-19 numbers in the B.C. Interior are not going down like they are in other places of the province.

Referencing a rise in cases in the Central Okanagan in mid-December, IH said the virus is now moving north into communities that havensa国际传媒檛 been as heavily exposed in the past.

Recently the North Okanagan - Shuswap region, specifically Salmon Arm, has been seeing a rise in cases. In the past week, the BC Centre for Disease Control has reported 17 new cases of COVID-19 in Salmon Arm.

Interior Health chief medical health officer Dr. Albert de Villiers compared the spread of COVID-19 to a wildfire, saying itsa国际传媒檚 moving away from places already sa国际传媒渂urnedsa国际传媒�, like the Central Okanagan, and into areas that havensa国际传媒檛 yet been exposed.

sa国际传媒淚n some of the other areas, we havensa国际传媒檛 seen a lot of fires. Theresa国际传媒檚 a lot of kindling to go out - theresa国际传媒檚 still a lot of people that havensa国际传媒檛 been exposed.sa国际传媒�

Virus still in care homes

In the Central and South Okanagan, two COVID-19 outbreaks at long-term care homes have been declared over, but outbreaks in such facilities across the region remain prevalent.

In terms of how its entering care homes in IH, de Villiers hypothesized that it could be a result of residents leaving to visit someone, or inviting in an essential visitor.

However there is hope; by the end of the month, IH hopes to have all staff and residents in long-term care homes in the Interior Health region vaccinated for COVID-19.

sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e looking forward tosa国际传媒� the next group. More people will be encouraged to get vaccinated at that point,sa国际传媒� said de Villiers. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 Canada, so itsa国际传媒檚 not mandatory to get the vaccine, but we do strongly encourage this.sa国际传媒�

As of yesterday, IH has administered 14,211 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. This includes individuals at 117 different care homes in the region.

Big White cases still trending upward

Cases of COVID-19 at Big White Ski Resort continue to climb. On Jan. 19 IH reported the total number of cases on the mountain has risen to 203.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 difficult for us to control because itsa国际传媒檚 mostly in younger people living and working on the hill. There are some other cases as well, but thatsa国际传媒檚 probably the bulk of it,sa国际传媒� said de Villiers.

As these young people often live with other people, de Villiers said itsa国际传媒檚 hard for them to socially distance themselves.

sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e trying to keep up with it. If everybody follows the rules, and everybody does what theysa国际传媒檙e supposed to be doing, we should be able to control it. But itsa国际传媒檚 not an easy one.sa国际传媒�

One-in-five tests come back positive in Fernie

IH also spoke to a reported spike in COVID-19 cases in Fernie.

According to a Fernie doctor, , there has been a 20 per cent positivity rate following local COVID-19 tests. IH said theysa国际传媒檙e working to get to the bottom of this.

sa国际传媒淲e know there has been some activity, so we do have people working on that to get to the bottom of it, to see exactly what is going on,sa国际传媒� said de Villiers.

IH explained if something isnsa国际传媒檛 defined as a cluster or an outbreak, they will not include it in their daily report, but did confirm there has been an increase in COVID-19 sa国际传媒榓ctivitysa国际传媒� there.

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