Interior seniors avoiding COVID-19
But young adults have contracted the coronavirus at a higher rate than their counterparts in the rest of the province
The COVID-19 infection rate among seniors in the Interior Health region is below the provincial average, data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control indicates.
But young adults in the IH area have been more affected by the virus than their counterparts across the province.
Eight per cent of COVID-19 cases reported in the IH region, of which the Okanagan is the most populous, have occurred in people aged 70 and over.
The comparable figure province-wide is 14 per cent.
At the outset of the pandemic earlier this year, most cases were reported among elderly people, with numerous outbreaks at long-term care facilities in the Lower Mainland. But there were very few such outbreaks in the IH region.
Since July, COVID-19 cases have been rising again, with many of the new cases among young adults.
In the IH region, as of Friday, 29 per cent of all COVID-19 cases were among people aged 20 to 29. The comparable figure province-wide is 21 per cent.
Although case counts have risen this summer, hospitalizations have not increased at the same pace. That’s because most younger people who get the disease exhibit only mild symptoms and can recover at home without going to hospital.
New daily COVID-19 cases peaked in the IH region at 20 on July 24.
Through August, however, there has been only a handful, or zero, new cases reported each day in the IH region. No one is currently being treated for COVID-19 in Interior Health hospitals.
Since the start of the pandemic, two people in the IH region have died of the disease.
Since early August, most of the new COVID19
cases among young adults have been reported in the Lower Mainland, with officials citing large gatherings as the main tom of transmission.
“Younger people, in particular, may not fully understand why many of the activities they normally enjoy are no longer available, look different, and require us to interact with each other in new ways,” provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said earlier this month.
Health Minister Adrian Dix noted case counts have also been rising among people over 29. “And when we talk about younger people, we’re talking about people between 20 and 39. And so I think it’s not fair to describe all of that to youth. There are people in those categories with lots of (life) experience who are struggling with this,” Dix said earlier this month.