There are now 35 cases of COVID-19 linked to an outbreak in downtown Kelowna around Canada Day.
That is eight more than yesterday, and it comes as health officials announced 28 new cases today across B.C. in an unscheduled press conference from Dr. Bonnie Henry. Twelve of those 28 new cases are in the Interior Health region, for a total of 235, along with a provincial total of 3,198.
Most of the cases from the Kelowna outbreak are people in the Interior Health Authority, with nine other people in the Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health areas, and one in Island Health. Henry says there’s a good chance that more cases will be traced to the Kelowna outbreak, with health officials tracing several hundred people right now.
“This is one of the more concerning issues to us because we recognize that there have been a number of events that have happened there and we need people to start thinking about how we can socialize safely over the coming weeks,” Henry said.
A number of the Kelowna-related cases are people in their 20s and 30s, and Henry says officials have been working with Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran, MLA Norm Letnick, who’s also the health critic, and Health Minister Adrian Dix to ensure that Okanagan residents are still able to enjoy their summer while keeping themselves safe.
“While the severity of illness for those people in our 20s and 30s are typically much less, people may not recognize that they are ill or that they have mild symptoms but they can still spread the virus to others,” she added. “Their ability to spread the virus is just as high or higher as older people.”
Henry said the Canada Day parties in Kelowna were done with the right intent, with small groups, but the concern arises because it was different people gathering every night.
“I don’t want COVID-19 to steal our summer. We can have fun, but we have to do it safely,” Henry said. “I empathize with young people. It’s been a rough couple of months, but we all still need to be careful.”
There are still four cases of the virus associated with the Krazy Cherry Farm in Oliver.
Another outbreak of concern is at the neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Paul’s Hospital in downtown Vancouver, where Henry says one infant has tested positive but has is not showing signs of serious illness.
As well, a person from Alberta working at the Site C project in northern B.C. has tested positive. This worker was tested in Alberta before travelling to B.C., and Henry says this person has had no interaction with people in the nearby communities. She is not sure yet if the person had disclosed that they’d been tested prior to entering the province.
“These flare ups in our communities around the province are a concern. It is not necessarily unexpected but it is a warning to us that we need to do more to keep things in balance. ,” Henry said. “This is one of the reasons that I felt it important to speak today.”
“If you are hosting an event, you have an obligation to keep your gatherings small, know everyone who is attending and be able to reach them afterwards, if necessary. “The best way is to have a designated-contact-keeper. If you are attending an event, make sure you give your contact information to the host.”
On a more positive note, there were no new deaths reported for the fourth straight day this week, leaving the death toll at 189. Active cases however were up by 15 to 207 across the province, with 18 people in hospital, two in intensive care.
And the number of people who have fully recovered is now up to 2,802, or 88 per cent of the total number of cases.
