Weekly COVID-19 cases dropped substantially in the Kamloops area last week, but in the North Thompson the case count was twice as high as any other week in the pandemic so far.
The Kamloops local health area (LHA) saw 92 cases for the week of Nov. 14 – 20, according to updated case counts from the BC Centre for Disease Control. That’s down from 132 the week prior (Nov. 7 – 13), and 142 the week before that (Oct. 31 – Nov. 6).
With 92 cases, that’s also the lowest weekly case count in the Kamloops area in nearly four months, since there were 59 cases between Aug. 1-7. The Kamloops LHA also covers Logan Lake, Savona, Tobiano, Chase, Sun Peaks, Barriere and Little Fort, and communities in between.
Meanwhile, the North Thompson LHA, which includes Clearwater, Vavenby, Avola and Blue River, reported a record 26 cases of COVID-19 last week. That’s double the previous record of 13 set only one week earlier, and before these past two weeks there had never been more than five cases of COVID-19 in the North Thompson in any week of the pandemic.
It’s unclear exactly why there is a spike of cases in the North Thompson, but it appears to have affected schools more than normal. Currently, there are active school exposures at two schools in Clearwater, Raft River Elementary and Clearwater Secondary, as well as at Vavenby Elementary.
Menawhile, many other LHAs in the southern and central Interior have followed the pattern of Kamloops with dropping case counts in the past week. The Merritt LHA reported just two cases while the Southern Cariboo LHA, which covers Lytton, Spences Bridge, Ashcroft, Cache Creek and Clinton, reported just one case.
The Central Okanagan LHA dropped from 224 cases from Nov. 7 – 13 to 140 cases last week, while the Vernon LHA dropped from 75 to 44 cases in that time.
B.C. Reports 322 New COVID-19 Cases Wednesday, Nine Deaths
Wednesday was another tragic day for COVID-19 deaths in B.C., with nine being reported by health officials, including one in Interior Health.
For new cases, there were 322 in B.C., and 86 were in the Interior. There were also 100 cases in Fraser Health, 50 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 44 in Northern Health and 42 in Island Health.
There remain three active COVID-19 outbreaks at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, none of which saw any new cases on Wednesday. There have been 29 cases and two patient deaths in Unit 5 South, 12 cases in Unit 5 North and 10 cases in Unit 6 South. All elective surgeries remain postponed and only essential visitors continue to be allowed in the hospital.
When it comes to vaccines, 91 per cent of people 12 and older in B.C. have received at least one dose, and 87.4 per cent are fully vaccinated. There were 19,388 vaccine doses administered yesterday.
Within Interior Health, Kamloops-South has the second-highest vaccination rate of all community health service areas (CHSA). Kamloops-South has a first-dose rate of 94 per cent, and only Revelstoke is higher at 96 per cent. Kamloops-North has a first-dose rate of 87 per cent and the Lower Thompson has a rate of 82 per cent.
