A coronavirus outbreak at an Okanagan retirement home is now over, health officials said on Tuesday as 51 new cases for Interior Health were announced.
According to Interior Health, the outbreak at Heritage Retirement Residence in West Kelowna is over.
IH says an outbreak is declared over when two incubation periods, or 28 days, have passed from the last onset of symptoms in a resident.
Data from Monday linked four resident deaths and 46 cases (41 residents and five staff members) to Heritage Retirement Residence.
All eligible residents and staff have been offered their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination.
“I’m happy to declare another COVID-19 outbreak over,” said Dr. Albert de Villiers, chief medical health officer. “It’s encouraging to have staff and residents at long-term care and assisted living receive their first dose of the vaccine.”
“I want to thank the staff for their commitment and dedication during this outbreak,” said Susan Brown, Interior Health president and CEO.
“With all the extra precautions, staff continue to ensure the people living there received the best possible care. On behalf of everyone at Interior Health, we send our condolences to the families who lost a loved one during this difficult time.”
In related news, along with the 51 new cases on Tuesday, the B.C. Centre of Disease Control was reporting 50 people in hospital, including 21 people in critical care, but no new deaths.
The death toll remained at 75, while the number of new cases rose to 6,396 — with 5,299 having recovered.
There are also 1,014 active cases in Interior Health, third in the province, behind Fraser Health (1,704) and Vancouver Coastal (1,151). Northern Health had 387 active cases, with 278 on Vancouver Island.
Of the 51 new cases, five were linked to the Big White Ski Resort cluster.
Since the cluster was first announced on Dec. 15, there are now 231 known cases —145 of which have resided or worked at Big White.
Further east, Interior Health said the community cluster in Fernie grew another seven cases to 98. The cluster was first announced on Jan. 1, and 24 cases are currently isolating.
Below are the updated outbreak numbers for long-term care homes in the Okanagan.
- Sunnybank long-term care in Oliver: 37 cases (27 residents, 10 staff) with five deaths connected to this outbreak. There are 11 active cases.
- Creekside Landing long-term care in Vernon: 40 cases (25 residents, 15 staff) with one death connected to this outbreak. There are eight active cases.
- Heritage Square long-term care in Vernon: 68 cases (47 residents, 21 staff) with nine deaths connected to this outbreak. There are nine active cases.
- Noric House long-term care in Vernon: 67 cases (38 residents, 29 staff) with nine deaths connected to this outbreak. There are 16 active cases.
To view the B.C. CDC’s daily online dashboard regarding COVID-19 data, click here.