Coronavirus: 66 new cases announced for Interior Health region

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the Interior Health region is still growing, according to health officials.

On Thursday, Interior Health announced 66 new cases, adding that 809 cases are active and isolating.

That’s down from 91 new cases announced on Wednesday, but up from 56 cases announced on Tuesday.

Interior Health also said on Thursday that 28 people are in hospital, with seven in intensive care, and that the region’s death total remained at eight.

Other data from the B.C. Centre of Disease Control released on Thursday showed the number of cases per subregion between the dates of Dec. 6-12.

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All told, there were 566 cases throughout Interior Health during that week, with the Central Okanagan subregion accounting for the most at 349 cases, or just over 61 per cent.

Next was the South Okanagan at 54 cases, followed by Vernon (36), Penticton (34) and Kamloops (21).

Notably, though, 10 subregions were listed as having no cases, though most were quite small population-wise.

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Regarding the community cluster at Big White Ski Resort, Interior Health said the next update will be Friday.

Also, the number of cases at McKinney Place in Oliver was updated to 56 cases (41 residents, 15), down from 57 on Wednesday (41 residents, 16 staff).

A long-term care home in Penticton, Village by the Station, remained steady at four cases, while Mountainview Village in Kelowna grew to 10 cases (five residents, five staff), up from seven.

And an outbreak at a mining operation at Elkford, near the Alberta border, was updated.

On Wednesday, Interior Health said the outbreak spanning three sites operated by Teck Mining had 27 confirmed cases affecting Interior Health and out-of-province residents.

On Thursday, IH said 12 cases were linked to the outbreak.

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Number of cases per subregion within Interior Health, Dec, 6 to 12:

• Central Okanagan: 349
• South Okanagan: 54
• Vernon: 36
• Penticton: 34
• Kamloops: 21
• Fernie: 12
• Kettle Valley: 11
• Salmon Arm: 11
• Summerland: 7
• Cranbrook: 5
• Nelson: 5
• Armstrong: 4
• Cariboo-Chilcotin: 3
• Kimberley: 3
• Windermere: 3
• Creston: 2
• Kootenay Lake: 2
• Merritt: 1
• Lillooet: 1
• Keremeos: 1
• Revelstoke: 1
• 100 Mile House: 0
• Arrow Lakes: 0
• Castlegar: 0
• Enderby: 0
• Golden: 0
• Grand Forks: 0
• North Thompson: 0
• Princeton: 0
• South Cariboo: 0
• Trail: 0

To view the latest data from the B.C. Centre of Disease Control, click here.