By James Peters

COVID-19

Kamloops recorded 26 new COVID-19 cases last week; 314 found in Kelowna region

Dec 10, 2020 | 5:16 PM

VICTORIA — The first weekly breakdown of COVID-19 cases in the province’s communities shows the virus present in most regions of the Interior — but the most prevalent in the Central Okanagan.

In the summer, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) began reporting COVID-19 case count data broken down by Local Health Area (LHA), updating monthly. Health officials steadfastly refused to provide the data on a more frequent basis, saying it might compromise the privacy of those who had contracted the virus.

After persistent questioning by journalists and the public, the BCCDC changed its policy to provide the updates weekly. The first of those updates was published Thursday (Dec. 10), showing COVID-19 case counts for the week of November 29 to December 5.

The data shows 26 new cases of COVID-19 found in the Kamloops Local Health Area during that week. This compares to 29 cases found in Kamloops during the entire month of October.

The highest total in the Interior is seen in the Central Okanagan, which includes the city of Kelowna. A total of 314 cases were found there last week, compared to 126 during October.

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These are some other LHA totals in the Kamloops vicinity, recorded last week:

• Cariboo/Chilcotin – 7
• North Thompson – 0
• 100 Mile House – 1
• South Cariboo – 2
• Lillooet – 0
• Merritt – 0
• Vernon – 21
• Armstrong-Spallumcheen – 1
• Enderby – 1
• Salmon Arm — 5
• Revelstoke – 7

Interior Health has seen a total of 2,502 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. Six residents of the region have died of the virus.

View the complete map here. The map will be updated weekly on Wednesday.