Virus numbers down almost 90% from peak
New cases of COVID-19 among Okanagan residents were down 88% last week from peak levels in early December.
A total of 71 people in the Valley tested positive for the disease between Feb. 12 and Feb. 18, newly released infection data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control shows.
That compares to the 597 Okanagan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 between in the week leading up to Dec. 3, 2020.
It’s been almost a steady decline since then, with new case numbers in the Okanagan going down in seven of the nine reporting periods.
The decline in new case counts in the Okanagan has been steeper than the provincial average. Across B.C, new weekly cases fell 31% between early December and last week.
The data, released Friday by the BC CDC, reflects COVID-19 cases among the general population. But the drop in infections can be measured in other ways, as well.
For example, there are currently no COVID-19 potential exposure alerts for any school in the greater Kelowna area. Last December, there were scores of such alerts, with several often being reported each day.
There has been one alert about a confirmed COVID-19 case on a flight arriving or departing from Kelowna airport so far this month;
in January, there were 14 such cases in January; and there were 19 in December.
And as of Feb. 16, there were five active COVID-19 cases at long-term care or assisted living complexes in the Interior Health region affecting 179 residents or staff. However, on Monday afternoon that number dropped further as IH declared the outbreak at Carrington Place Retirement Residence in Vernon over.
In early January, there were 10 such outbreaks with 236 residents or staff affected.