LTC homes continue to battle COVID-19
Two more deaths reported in Vernon
Two more people at a Vernon seniors home have died from COVID19, Interior Health revealed Friday.
Seven people in total have now died from coronavirus at Heritage Square long-term care home.
“Sadly, Interior Health is finishing the week by reporting that another two people have died due to COVID-19,” reads a written statement from Susan Brown, IH president and CEO. “Both people passed away in long-term care, bringing the total number of families in IH who have lost loved ones to this pandemic to 46. As COVID-19 cases rise throughout the southern Interior, we must redouble our efforts to prevent ongoing spread in the community.”
COVID outbreaks are ongoing at 10 seniors homes in the region, including Noric House in Vernon, Heritage Retirement Residence in West Kelowna, McKinney Place in Oliver, where 17 people have died, Village by the Station in Penticton and Mountainview Village in Kelowna.
Big White’s COVID concern has also grown. The number of people connected to a cluster of COVID-19 cases at Big White increased to 175 on Friday from 162 on Tuesday.
Of the total, 143 people have recovered, and 32 cases are considered active with those affected in self-isolation. No one connected to the cluster has required hospitalization.
“Interior Health continues to communicate to (us) that most of those affected by the cluster are in their 20s, work on the mountain in some capacity, and live in privately owned housing,” Big White said in a Friday news bulletin.
Of the 175 cases, 110 people live on the mountain. The 65 others recently visited Big White and so are considered part of the cluster.
The resort remains open and is safe for people to visit, Interior Health says, provided they comply with relevant COVID-19 protocols.
The Big White cluster has been traced to social gatherings held in late November.
“We’re not naive in thinking this is going to be contained overnight, but we are hopeful, through regular enforcement of our safety plan, and the numbers will confirm, that we will continue moving in the right direction,” Michael Ballingall, the resort’s senior vice-president, said in the Big White release.
Provincewide, 509 new cases of COVID19, including 86 in the Interior Health region, were reported between Thursday and Friday.
That makes for a total of 60,117 people in B.C. who’ve tested positive for the virus since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020.
More than 53,000 have recovered, 4,604 cases are considered active, 349 people are currently being treated for the disease in hospital, and 1,047 people have died.
As of Friday, just under 76,000 British Columbians have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
“We are disappointed to hear today that there will be a short-term delay in the delivery of some of the Pfizer vaccines to British Columbia in the coming weeks as the company upgrades its production facility,” provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a joint statement.
“We are working closely with the federal government to determine how this might impact our immunization rollout in the immediate term, and we will have more to share in the coming days,” they said.