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COVID-19

Jump in Interior Health COVID-19 cases due to different counting method, not outbreak: Henry

May 22, 2020 | 4:24 PM

VICTORIA — Provincial officials are advising Interior Health (IH) residents not to worry, even though new COVID-19 totals released Friday (May 22) show a big jump in cases locally.

In a news release, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reported 18 more test positive cases Friday, bringing the B.C. total to 2,507 cases since COVID-19 first arrived here.

Of those cases, 2,042 people are considered fully recovered, or 81 per cent.

There are now 194 people in IH who have had the virus, an increase of 11 from Thursday.

Henry says the discrepancy is due to “data consolidation to reflect COVID-19 cases based on where individuals reside, even if they were not in the health authority during their illness.”

She goes on to note nine of the cases in IH are associated with the outbreak at the Kearl Lake oilsands construction project in Northern Alberta. These people completed their self-isolation in Alberta and have now recovered.

There are 41 people in B.C. battling COVID-19 in hospital, including eight in intensive care.

Here is where the 2,507 total COVID-19 patients in B.C. live:

  • 888 (Vancouver Coastal)
  • 1,236 (Fraser Health)
  • 127 (Vancouver Island)
  • 194 (Interior Health)
  • 62 (Northern Health)

Three more people have died of COVID-19 since Thursday, bringing the provincial death toll to 155.