Two deaths reported in Interior as local active COVID-19 cases fell to 762

The Interior’s death toll rose by two over the weekend while the active COVID-19 case count fell to 762 Monday, despite the addition of 275 new cases in the region.

The new cases were part of 1,270 recorded across B.C. over the weekend, with 502 cases identified on Saturday, 387 on Sunday and 381 on Monday. The province’s active case count following the weekend was 3,837.

The Ministry of Health also noted that 16 COVID related deaths were reported across B.C. over the weekend, two of which were located in the Interior. To date the Interior’s COVID-19 death toll is 285, and a total of 2,273 British Columbians have died due to the virus.

It was also noted that hospitalizations due to COVID-19 complications declined over the weekend to 376, with 116 of those patients in intensive care.

B.C.’s vaccination rate saw slight gains following the weekend, as 90.7 per cent of British Columbians age 12 and over had received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine Monday, and 86.8 per cent of the eligible population were fully vaccinated.

The Ministry of Health and B.C. Centre for disease control notes that new cases identified over the past week have mainly been in the unvaccinated population, who made up 54.9 per cent of new cases, while the fully vaccinated accounted for 39.9 per cent of cases.

The unvaccinated are also more likely to end up in hospital due to COVID-19 complications, as over the past two weeks 60.1 per cent of COVID patients have been unvaccinated individuals compared to 33 per cent of patients who were double dosed.

Two health-care facilities in the Fraser Health jurisdiction were removed from the provincial outbreak list Monday. There were still 23 facilities classified as outbreak sites, four of which are located in the Interior.

• Village by the Station long-term care in Penticton: 27 resident and 14 staff cases, three deaths
• Sun Pointe Village long-term care in Kelowna: seven resident and three staff cases
• Brocklehurst Gemstone long-term care in Kamloops: four resident and two staff cases
• Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops
  • Unit 5S: 20 patients and seven staff/other cases, two deaths
  • Unit 7N: four patient and one staff/other cases
  • Unit 6S: 10 patient cases
  • Unit 5N: four patient and two staff/other cases

Interior Health also notes that Millar College of the Bible in Tappen is considered an outbreak location, with 33 cases associated with the site.