While new COVID-19 cases in the province have been trending down, in Interior Health that number has still been relatively high in recent weeks.

Despite making up about 15 per cent of the province’s total population, Interior Health has accounted for over a third of the new cases reported so far this month. Of the 335 COVID-19 cases reported in B.C. between July 2 and July 8, 119 of those have been in Interior Health.

Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry says those numbers are something that health officials are concerned about moving ahead.

“Though the proportion is rising, the numbers are still staying relatively low,” she said during an update on Thursday. “The other thing we look at is per cent positive in testing and that has come down in the Interior though it is higher than the very low rates we are seeing in many parts of the province.”

Henry says many of the new COVID-19 cases in the Interior are being reported in people who are not yet vaccinated.

“It is clusters, primarily in smaller communities, where there’s been an introduction and some transmission, particularly in pockets of unvaccinated people,” Henry added.

“This is where we’re trying to get vaccine out to people and that is a challenge, particularly in the North and Interior where we have many small communities, and of course, right now where we have everything from wildfire and smoke as well to contend with.”

Henry also notes some of these new cases are also related to travel given that restrictions have been eased as part of Step 3 of B.C.’s COVID-19 Restart Plan.

“[Primarily] from other parts of the country in particular, mostly again in people who are not vaccinated and pockets of transmission,” she added.

As of July 8, there are 175 active cases in Interior Health, out of the total 13,273 cases. In all, 12,939 have recovered while another 159 succumbed to the virus. Currently, there are eight people in hospital in the Interior, five in intensive care.

The Central Okanangan has long been one of the hotspots for new COVID cases in Interior Health, though the numbers have been improving in recent weeks.

“The Central Okanagan has gone down quite a bit. The last ones I saw, there was a cluster again in a couple of smaller communities in the South Okanagan and along the border with Alberta as well, I think it was Invermere again that there was still some ongoing transmission,” Henry said.

Data from the BC CDC shows that between June 27 and July 3, there were 47 new cases in the Central Okanagan – about half of all of the cases in the Interior during that week. In the Kamloops area, there were 11 cases, with at least seven of those cases linked to the outbreak at Royal Inland Hospital which was declared on June 30.

The outbreak at RIH has grown to nine cases as of this past Wednesday, July 7.

“I do feel that [Interior Health] has a strong public health response and that they are managing cases,” Henry added. “We know where each of the transmission events are happening. I do expect it will slow down in the coming days and weeks as we manage this and as we get immunization rates up.”