Valley sitting far from virus peak
Infections from the COVID-19 virus are down 90% in Kelowna from peak pandemic levels.
Five people tested positive for the disease each day last week in the Central Okanagan, down from the rate of 50-a-day seen in late November and early December.
Also down significantly in recent weeks are deaths and hospitalizations due to the virus, the percentage positivity rate, and outbreaks in care homes, according to newly released data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
About one person a day is testing positive for COVID-19 in the Vernon area, and there were three cases during all of last week in Penticton.
As was the situation last week, no infections at all were reported in vast areas of the B.C. Southern Interior, including regions around Nelson, Castlegar, Trail, Creston, and Golden.
Community-specific virus numbers are released each Wednesday by the B.C. CDC.
Mid-week, the agency also produces a situation report, with the most recent illustrating these trends province-wide:
— Hospitalizations across B.C. due to COVID19 fell from 210 per week in early January to 139 in mid-February.
— The number of deaths per week also fell, from 72 to 39, over the same one-month period
— The number of COVID-19 outbreaks in care facilities fell from almost 30 per week in November to less than five by mid-February
— In late December, almost 9% of all COVID19 tests came back positive; now, the rate is 6%
At a press conference earlier this week, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry attributed the sharp decline in COVID-19 outbreaks at care homes to the effectiveness of vaccines that have now been given at all long-term care facilities to residents and staff.
The mass rollout of the vaccine will start in early April, with people over 80 being the first priority group.