There are now three confirmed cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Interior Health.

In an update Tuesday, Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said there are now 44 confirmed cases of the variant in the province. Fraser Health has the most at 24 cases, followed by 11 in Vancouver Coastal Health, five on Vancouver Island, and one in Northern Health.

All of people impacted in B.C. are between the age of five and 72, with a median age of 33.

The province does not specify where in the health authority those cases are. However, it did say that 20 of the cases in B.C. have recent travel histories, including to Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Iran, Mexico, Germany, Portugal, and the United States.

Seven of the 44 cases are in unvaccinated people – including two children under the age of 11 – though no one has been hospitalized with Omicron in B.C. at this time.

Modelling presented by Henry though said that in a worst case scenario there will be 2,000 new COVID cases a day by the end of December due to Omicron.

“Although vaccinations are not 100-per-cent effective in preventing transmission, we do see they are incredibly effective in preventive hospitalizations,” Henry said Tuesday. “This is to give us a sense of what may happen.”

“What the challenge is right now is (that) so much is unknown. Omicron can break through in people who have had COVID. What is not known is how much immune evasion there is for those who are vaccinated.”

Tuesday afternoon, the province reported another 519 new cases of COVID-19, 145 of which were in Interior Health.

There are 3,171 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 612 of those cases in Interior Health. There are 191 people in hospital with COVID-19 around B.C., with 81 people in intensive care.

As it stands, 86.6 per cent of people (4,316,478) over the age of five have gotten one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 82.4 per cent (4,105,425) have gotten two doses. Thirteen per cent of eligible people (610,196) have gotten their third dose.