COVID-19 cases, deaths rise in the Interior

The Interior has seen a week-over-week increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control’s (BCCDC) weekly report identified 168 cases of the virus between January 1 and 7 in the Interior.

There was also a preliminary count of nine deaths linked to COVID-19 in the Interior in the report.

Comparatively, the previous week confirmed 125 cases and six deaths in the region.

The number of patients admitted to hospital in the Interior stayed flat week-over-week at 25, though the number of patients admitted to critical care with COVID-19 doubled to 10 in the latest reporting week.

As of Thursday, Jan. 12, there were 43 patients in hospital with COVID-19 in the Interior, three of whom were in critical care.

Meanwhile, the province as a whole, saw COVID-19 infections decline on a weekly basis.

The latest reporting week confirmed 661 cases, 155 hospital admissions and a preliminary count of 28 deaths due to COVID.

The previous week saw 691 cases, 226 hospitalizations and 37 deaths confirmed throughout B.C.

The BCCDC reported 302 people in hospital with COVID across the province as of Thursday, 25 of whom were in critical care.

To date, a total of 393,804 cases of the virus have been identified in B.C., 70,498 of which came from within the Interior.

A total of 4,961 British Columbians have died due to COVID, including 802 people from the Interior.

The BCCDC did not provide data for specific health areas.