Number of COVID outbreaks in Interior Health care homes grows to 18
There are now 18 care facilities and one hospital in the Interior Health region with COVID-19 outbreaks.
There are 16 outbreaks in Thompson-Okanagan care homes with Kelowna being the hardest hit, according to Interior Health's Health Facility Disease Outbreaks web page.
In addition to Kelowna General Hospital having an outbreak on Ward 3 W, there are three care facilities in Kelowna with outbreaks: Sun Pointe Village, Lakeview Lodge and Glenmore Lodge.
Vernon has three outbreaks, at The Hamlets, Heritage Square and Noric House.
READ MORE: B.C.'s top doctor says it's time to get used to living with COVID-19
There are two facilities in Kamloops on the list posted by Interior Health, Brocklehurst Gemstone and Pinegrove.
Penticton has two outbreaks at Westview Place and The Hamlets.
There are also outbreaks at McKinney Place in Oliver, Village at Smith Creek in West Kelowna, Summerland Seniors Village, Mount Ida Mews in Salmon Arm, Mariposa Gardens in Osoyoos and Gillis House in Merritt.
There are also two facilities in the East Kootenays with outbreaks.
The Interior Health web page no longer indicates how many people are infected in each facility or when the outbreaks were declared.
By comparison, the much larger Fraser Health region has 14 current outbreaks in care homes dating back to Dec. 30. Vancouver Island has 22 outbreaks on its list, dating back to Jan. 5. Vancouver Coastal has two and Northern Health has none.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submitphotos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
