Upward trajectory of new COVID cases in B.C., Interior Health worry top doctor

Even before today’s data on new COVID cases was released, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry was expressing concern about the direction the pandemic is taking in B.C.

“We are on a path that has been slowly going down but now it’s levelling off and that can become worrisome,” she said during a press briefing today, Dec. 14.

Dr. Henry is concerned the more contagious Omicron variant might “displace the downturn we’ve been dealing with for the last few months.” The latest numbers from the Ministry of Health reinforce her concerns.

There were 513 new cases in B.C. in the last 24 hours, the highest daily case count in the past month.

There were 145 new cases in the Interior Health region, also the worst day in almost a month.

There are now 44 Omicron cases in B.C. with more expected, she said. That’s up from five just five days ago. Three of the Omicron cases are in the Interior Health region.

READ MORE: Omicron has reached the Interior Health region

There were 110 new COVID cases in the Fraser Health region, 123 on Vancouver Island, 34 in Northern Health and 106 in Vancouver Coastal.

On the positive side, there were no new deaths, leaving the provincial total to 2,386.

There are 3,171 active cases with 191 B.C. residents in hospital, of which 81 are in intensive care.

The vaccination rate for those aged 12 and over with at least one dose is unchanged at 91.5% but the rate for those with two doses crept up to 88.6%. There are 13% of B.C. residents who have received a third dose.

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