BCCDC map for the week of Jan. 17 to 23.
Image Credit: BCCDC
January 31, 2021 - 8:00 PM
COVID-19 case counts within the Interior showed some positive changes in the week between Jan. 17 to 23.
Once the hotspot of the Interior, the Central Okanagan had only 65 cases in that week. Nearby, in Penticton, there were only nine cases, and the South Okanagan had six. Princeton saw one case and Keremeos had none.
These low numbers all reflect a 0.1 to 5 per 100,000 population proportion of cases. While some Okanagan cities are seeing a shift away from high case counts, other areas are struggling to control cases.
Vernon, for example, had 59 cases and Kamloops had. 124 cases. That’s a. 10.1 to 14 per 100,000 population caseload.
Also seeing a higher proportion of cases are Enderby, with 11 cases, and Merritt with 15 cases for a proportion of 15.1 to 20 cases per 100,000 population.
And, showing up as the Thompson-Okanagan-Shuswap hotspot, is Salmon Arm. Its 55 cases give it a proportion of more than 20 cases per 100,000 population.
The map, which was released earlier in the week by the BCCDC, shows the most localized data in B.C.
While there is good news in these recent figures, there was a mixed bag of news this week.
B.C. reported a short-term shortage of vaccines, though health officials said they will immunize residents at the highest risk of getting very sick with COVID-19 by the end of March.
There were no Pfizer vaccines shipped to B.C. last week and the Moderna vaccine supply will be cut 20 per cent this week but provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry expects to make a big push later in February to vaccinate about 250,000 seniors over the age of 80 by the end of the month.
“Please be patient. We have not forgotten you,” Dr. Henry said during a news conference, Jan. 29. “It will be coming out and we recognize there are limitations people have, particularly people who are older and not as mobile and maybe not using the Internet.”
Details will be coming out over the next couple of weeks about how those people will be able to get their vaccines.
Staff and residents of all long-term care homes in B.C. have been offered the vaccine. Dr. Henry did not have statistics yet on how many actually accepted a shot but that data is being compiled.
To see the whole map, go here.
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