New modelling from the BC Government shows COVID-19 cases suggests cases peaked in November, but the curve has been trending downwards since restrictions were brought in last month.
“What we are doing is working,” Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry said. “We have bent our curve slightly and we are perhaps on a downward trajectory. But we have to be cautious. It will not take much to get us back into a dangerous level.”
Cases peaked in the middle of November at about 800 a day which prompted restrictions on non-essential travel and gatherings that are currently set to be in place until Jan. 8.
The R-number is back below 1, meaning people are passing COVID-19 to fewer than other person in the province. Henry says it means transmission is slowing, but she cautions that we are not out of the woods just yet.
She made that statement while announcing another 518 new cases of the virus and 19 deaths, with 49 more in Interior Health. There were 332 new cases in Fraser Health, 97 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 31 are in Northern Health and nine on Vancouver Island.
Active cases are now at 9,137 people, with 348 in hospital of which 80 are in critical care or ICU. In Interior Health there are now 679 active cases of the virus with 32 people in hopsital, seven in ICU. One of the 19 deaths was in IH, a senior who lived in the McKinney Place long-term care home in Oliver – taking the death toll to 18 people.
“Despite hope on the horizon in the fight against COVID-19, the terrible impacts of this pandemic continue to affect people throughout the Interior,” said IHA President and CEO, Susan Brown.
“Each death reminds us of the important commitment we must all make to follow the public health guidance that will keep us safe as the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more available throughout the region.”
There are now 75 cases of the virus at the Oliver care home – 54 residents and 21 staff. At Village by the Station in Penticton, there are eight cases – four residents and four staff, while Mountainview Village in Kelowna remains at 14 cases – seven residents and seven staff.
One more staff member at Heritage Retirement Residence in West Kelowna has tested positive for COVID-19, taking the total to 11 cases, six of which are residents.
New data also shows there were 35 new cases in the Kamloops area during the week of Dec. 13 and Dec. 19, compared to 262 in Central Okanagan which includes Kelowna.
Moderna Vaccine to come next week
Dr. Henry says B.C. will be getting the Moderna vaccine starting next week after it was approved by Health Canada today.
She also says health officials can now move the Pfizer vaccine away from the point of delivery and into places like care homes.
“Those are exciting things that have happened in just the last few days,” Henry said.
The province’s vaccination plan now calls for 792,000 doses to be administered between December and March. It will begin with residents and staff at long term care homes and assisted living facilities, other health care workers, essential visitors to long term care homes, and people in remote Indigenous communities.
“I’m excited and thankful and grateful that we have vaccines,” Henry added.
As of Dec. 22, there were 5,603 people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, Dr. Henry included. She says the province plans to give people their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine 35 days after their got their first dose.
The Medical Health Officer in Kamloops, Dr. Carol Fenton, says the hope is to have all long-term care workers in the region vaccinated by the end of January. However, she says IH can’t make any promises yet on a firm timeline because there are a number of variables at play.
Henry again stressed that it will take months to vaccinate everyone and so she’s cautioning people to keep their holiday gatherings limited to people in their households.
There are now 36,952 people who are considered to have recovered from COVID-19, about 77 per cent of the total.
Dr. Henry says there was a spike in cases in the 2 weeks after restrictions were put in place last month – which is not surprising.
But since then things have stabilized.
She’s again asking people not to let down their guard over the next few days. #Kamloops pic.twitter.com/bMnLfkp9e7
— Victor Mario Kaisar (@supermario_47) December 23, 2020
Here are the current trends IF people keep up with measures like they have been in recent weeks.
“The blue background tells us we need to be cautious. It would not take much for us to get into a danger zone again,” Dr. Henry said. #Kamloops pic.twitter.com/04oJQAXZpo
— Victor Mario Kaisar (@supermario_47) December 23, 2020
