New COVID cases up in Kamloops, Penticton but down overall in Interior Health region

As with the rest of B.C., the number of new COVID-19 cases dropped over the past week in the Interior Health region.

The latest data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control shows there were 457 new cases in the region during the week of April 25 to May 1, down from 506 the week before.

One of the biggest drops was in the Central Okanagan Local Health Area where there were 174 new cases, down from 215 the week before. Vernon cases fell to 25 from 36.

But cases in the Kamloops Local Health Area, which stretches from Barriere to Logan Lake and Chase, rose to 57 from 46.

Penticton’s case count climbed to 34 from 30, but Summerland jumped to 28 from 12. The South Okanagan went to 14 from six.

Golden remained a hot spot in the Interior Health region with 16 cases, an increase of one from the week before.

As of yesterday, May 5, there have been 11,197 cases of COVID-19 in the Interior Health region and 131 deaths.

There are currently 30 people in hospital, 16 of whom are in critical care. There are 546 active cases. There have been 306,199 doses of vaccine administered, 292,784 of which are first doses.

The Interior Health region has a population of about 762,000.

For more data on COVID-19 go to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control website here.

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