Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK

In the past week, Revelstoke recorded more than 10% of the COVID cases in the Interior Health region.

Revelstoke had 142 of 1,036 cases for the region as a whole. That’s almost as many as in Kamloops, which had 152 cases even though it has more than 10 times as many residents as Revelstoke.

Data for the week of Dec. 19 to 25, the latest available on the B.C. Centre for Disease Control website, shows that Vernon had 78 cases and Penticton had 26.

The Central Okanagan region had 267 cases.

Revelstoke has a population of about 8,750 versus 223,000 in the Central Okanagan.

Salmon Arm was also hard hit with 61 cases.

Enderby, the least vaccinated community in the Interior Health region, only had 13 cases.

These case counts were just at the start of the fifth wave of COVID in B.C. that is being propelled by the Omicron variant. At that time, case counts in Interior Health were fairly low and steady, which has changed this week with a record 501 cases recorded in Interior Health recorded yesterday, Dec. 30.

READ MORE: Record-setting day for new COVID cases in B.C. and Interior Health

As of Dec. 23, Enderby had a vaccination rate for those over the age of 12 with at least on dose of 74% compared to a provincial rate of 91.9%.

Revelstoke, on the other hand, is the most vaccinated community in the region at 97%, yet it had the 142 cases.

Vaccination status doesn’t seem to help much in terms of getting COVID with the Omicron variant. In the week of Dec. 22 to 28, 84.2% of new cases were in people who were fully vaccinated.

Vaccinations, on the other hand, help keep people out of hospital. In the two weeks from Dec. 15 to 28, 45.3% of people hospitalized with COVID were fully vaccinated versus 54.7% who were not vaccinated.

In terms of vaccination, the Central Okanagan had 89% of its population over the age of 12 with at least one dose, Kamloops was at 90%, Penticton was at 89% and Vernon was at 85%.

The least vaccinated Local Health Area in B.C. is the South Peace at 71%. At 74%, Enderby is tied with Fort Nelson as the second least vaccinated area of B.C.

Kitimat is the only community in B.C. to record a 100% vaccination rate.

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