The Chief Medical Health Officer for Interior Health is not surprised by the spike in cases in the Okanagan.

However, Dr. Sue Pollock says she is worried after 86 cases have so far been linked to parties in downtown Kelowna around Canada Day.

“Some people are frustrated by the restrictions and having to stay home for many many months, and so they just to get out there now and have some fun and let loose a little bit and hang out with the friends,” she said. “And so we are reminding people that its very important to remember that this is not summer as usual, and to practice those public health measures that worked for us.”

B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix have both said repeatedly that this summer will look a lot different than summers past because of the pandemic.

According to the latest data from the BC Centre for Disease Control, there were 107 people in the Okanagan who tested positive for COVID-19 between July 10 and July 23, compared to just two across the Thompson-Cariboo-Shuswap in that same time frame.

“I know that us in public health, we’re all taking as many steps as we can, but I think this is a warning for all of us who live in the Interior Health region that we need to be careful, that we need to be safe, and we need to take our individual and collective responsibility in bending the curve back down again,” Pollock said.

Health officials across Canada are concerned that more young people between the age of 20 and 39 have been testing positive in recent weeks. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam says young people who may feel like they are invincible are putting older Canadians in danger.

“I must urge all Canadians, particularly younger adults, to not give in to COVID-19 fatigue,” she said Friday in Ottawa. “This is your generation and your future that is being shaped. Younger age groups are not invincible against COVID-19.”

“The upward trend in daily case counts is worrisome. We know that we have the means to keep COVID-19 under control, but this is by no means a sure thing. It is going to take all Canadians doing their part and working together, with public health, to keep the curve down.”

The median age for cases in the Interior Health Authority is by far the lowest in the province at 38 years, compared to 46 in both Northern Health and Fraser Health, 50 on Vancouver Island, and 55 in Vancouver Coastal Health.

Pollock notes health officials are continuing to work to find people who may have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus in recent weeks.

“In terms of contact tracing in British Columbia, we work closely with the other health authorities to ensure that contact tracing happens, both for our residents, but also for residents of either health authorities or other provinces or jurisdictions,” she added.

Premier John Horgan has called on people to use common sense as they go about their n response to the COVID-19 cluster caused by parties in downtown Kelowna on and around Canada Day this year.

You’ll find the most recent province-wide breakdown of COVID-19 cases here.