Watching for spike after long weekend
Nearly 150 new cases across B.C.; eight more in IHA
The number of British Columbians infected by COVID-19 grew by 146 over the B.C. Day long weekend.
Most of the new cases were reported in the Lower Mainland with the COVID-19 case count in the Interior Health region rising by eight, from 369 last Friday to 377 on Tuesday.
“We’ve had a significant weekend, with most of the new cases, 90 per cent of them, have been in the metro Vancouver health authorities,” Health Minister Adrian Dix said during the government’s daily update on the pandemic.
Province-wide, the COVID-19 case count rose to 3,787. Only eight people are being treated for hospital in B.C., well down from a peak of 140 in April.
There are currently 319 active cases of COVID-19, with the vast majority recovering at home. A total of 3,273 people have recovered, and there were no deaths due to the disease since last Friday.
A surge in COVID-19 cases in Kelowna and the Interior Health Authority caused public concern in recent weeks. But only 10 per cent of all COVID-19 cases in B.C. are in the IH region, which has 15 per cent of the province’s population.
In almost all cases, health officials are able to determine where a person contracted COVID-19, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said.
“Thankfully, most of our cases, the vast majority of them, we are able to find out where you’ve been exposed, and we know that many of those are overlapping social circles where private parties over the period of the last few weeks have led to people passing it to their friends and family,” Henry said.
With the long weekend having passed, Henry said it is important for people to remember where they went and who they spent time with since last Friday, in the event they begin to show symptoms of COVID-19.
“The next two weeks is important for all of us,” she said. “Coming out of this B.C. Day long weekend, we all need to pay attention to how we are feeling.”
A new COVID-19 testing site has been created in downtown Kelowna.
Health authorities say there’s a need to offer such a service given the large and growing number of downtown residents and workers who’ve caught COVID-19.
“We are taking a different approach and trying something new,” Dr. Sue Pollock, Interior Health’s chief medical health officer, said Tuesday.
“Many of the people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Kelowna this month have been in their 20s and 30s and live, work, and socialize downtown.
“This site is set up to be convenient and accessible for these individuals and others, so that getting tested when you may have been exposed to COVID-19 is easy, and we can stop the spread.”
Last week, health officials said at least 137 COVID-19 infections were traced to indoor parties that took place around Kelowna in early July. And more than 1,000 people who may have subsequently been exposed to the coronavirus have been ordered to self-isolate.
The new testing site will operate for at least the next two weeks out of the Community Health and Services Centre at 505 Doyle Ave.
Testing will be provided from 4:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m., seven days a week.
Individuals do not require an appointment, and they will be seen on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.
Milder symptoms may include runny nose, fatigue, body aches, sore throat, vomiting, and red eyes.
An urgent and primary care centre at the Capri Mall property continues to offer COVID-19 testing on an appointment-only basis.