A medical health officer with Interior Health says officials are keeping a close eye on people who are reporting smoke or heat related illnesses when seeking medical treatment these days.

Dr. Karin Goodison tells NL News it is because there are some symptoms of smoke exposure like irritation, a runny nose, or a sore throat are also symptoms of COVID-19.

“However, if you have symptoms such as a fever, muscle aches, just feeling achy all over, a loss of sense of taste or smell, nausea, vomiting, or more of a severe headache, those may indicate that you have COVID,” she said on the NL Morning News. “If you’re uncertain, we recommend that you go and get tested.”

Goodison says if you are fully vaccinated it is less likely that your symptoms would be COVID related, though she notes that is not always going to be the case.

“This is an opportunity for everyone to be their own detective and consider you know what have you been exposed to? Have your been exposed to heat? Have you been exposed to someone who is positive for COVID? Have you been exposed to smoke?” she added.

“It’s also depends on if you are vaccinated or not. Especially if you have two doses on board, you would be less likely to develop COVID and certainly less likely to have severe symptoms.”

B.C. health officials today reported 1,079 new COVID-19 cases this past weekend, 587 of which were in Interior Health alone. Active cases in B.C. are now at 3,036, an increase of 625 from Friday, with 1,755 of those cases in Interior Health.

Earlier today, Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry announced plans to cut down the timeline between first and second vaccine doses to 28 days from the current 49, as COVID-19 cases rise in the province.

As of Monday, 70.3 per cent of people over the age of 12 in B.C. are fully vaccinated, while about 82 per cent  have gotten their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.