New data from the BC Centre for Disease Control shows a significant increase in new COVID-19 cases across most of Interior Health.

In the Kamloops Local Health Area, there were 193 new cases reported from August 15 to 21, up from 121 during the previous week. Similarly, in the Kelowna area there were 737 new cases, though that number was down from the 922 cases.

This is the first time the Kamloops Local Health Area, which includes not only the City of Kamloops but also Sun Peaks, Chase, Barriere, Little Fort, Savona, Tobiano and Logan Lake is coloured red, meaning an average daily rate of more than 20 cases per 100,000 people.

It is also the first time that every local health area within Interior Health has reported at least one new COVID-19 cases in a week.

Around the Kamloops area, there were 133 new cases in Vernon, 79 in Salmon Arm, 44 in the Cariboo/Chilcotin, 28 in Enderby, 16 in Armstrong and Spallumcheen, 13 in Merritt, six in 100 Mile House, five in the South Cariboo, four in the North Thompson, and two in the Lillooet area.

Elsewhere in the Interior, there was also a significant amount of new cases reported in the Kootenays from Grand Forks all the way to Fernie as well as in the Revelstoke and Golden areas.

A full map of last week’s COVID-19 case count by locations can be found here.