Latest restrictions beginning to pay off

Restrictions on social gatherings imposed in November have helped slow the spread of COVID-19 in B.C., provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says.

“We did hit a peak around mid-November and we've now started to slowly decrease," Henry said Wednesday, referring to the closely-monitored seven day average of new cases.

Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have also levelled off or dropped across B.C. since midNovember, Henry said.

“What this shows us is that when we adhere to the (public health orders), the case numbers do come down, and that is incredibly important for us to recognize,” Henry said.

In mid-November and early December, about 800 new cases of COVID-19 were being confirmed each day in B.C. That has now dropped to about 700 cases.

“We have bent our curve, slightly,” Henry said. “And we're now, perhaps, on a downward trajectory.

“But we need to be cautious. The models show us that it would not take much for us to get back into a danger zone,” she said.

Between December and March, the government expects to give one of the two approved vaccines for COVID-19 to 549,000 British Columbians, about half of whom will also have received the necessary second shot.

So far, inoculations have been given to 5,603 British Columbians. "This is the start of our being able to protect people," Henry said.

Between Tuesday and Wednesday, 518 people tested positive for COVID-19, of whom 49 are residents of the Interior Health region.

Another 19 deaths due to the disease were recorded across B.C., making the total since the onset of the pandemic 796.

Passengers who tested positive for COVID19 were on a pair of flights to Kelowna this month. The cases were reported on a Dec. 9 WestJet flight from Vancouver and a Dec. 14 Air Canada flight from Vancouver.

WestJet flight 3320 arrives in Kelowna at 9:30 p.m. Air Canada flight 8414 has a 2:30 p.m. arrival time.