Largest jump in number of new Interior Health COVID cases in two weeks

In the last 24 hours there were 96 new COVID-19 cases reported in the Interior Health region. That’s up from 73 yesterday and one of the highest daily counts in the last two weeks.

In B.C., there were 269 new cases, down two from yesterday, according to a Ministry of Health news release issued today, March 24. Of the new cases, there were 54 in Fraser Health, 30 in Vancouver Coastal, 60 on Vancouver Island and 31 in the Northern Health region,

The real number of cases is estimated to be three to four times higher because many people infected with COVID are not getting tested or take rapid tests that are not included in these figures.

The number of people in hospital with COVID dropped slightly today to 255 rom 258 yesterday, while the number in intensive care increased by three to 52 today.

About half the of people in hospital with a COVID diagnosis were not there because of COVID but were tested after going to hospital for things like surgery, delivering a baby or being admitted to a mental health unit.

There were six new deaths recorded in the last 24 hours, including one in Interior Health, bringing the pandemic total to 2,981.

The vaccination rate for people over the age of 12 with at least one dose remains unchanged at 93.4%, as does the rate for those with at least two doses at 91% while those with three doses went up slightly to 57.2%.

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