While cases of COVID-19 in the North Okanagan-Shuswap have been increasing recently, some areas are reaching record-high numbers and others are starting to see a decline.
According to Interior Health data supplied to the BC Centre for Disease Control, new COVID-19 cases recorded the week of Sept. 5 to 11, 2021 in the Salmon Arm health area were the highest weekly numbers since January 2020 when totals were first recorded. The number of new cases from Sept. 5 to 11 topped 100, reaching 104.
That weekly count is equal to about one-sixth of the total number of cases recorded in the Salmon Arm area for the 20 months since Jan. 1, 2020 – 679.
The week previous in the Salmon Arm area, the total number of new cases was 76.
The Salmon Arm health area includes Sicamous, Malakwa, Blind Bay, Sorrento, Falkland and Tappen.
Numbers throughout the region were low up until the end of July and beginning of August when they began increasing.
For the Vernon health area, the number of new cases for Sept. 5 to 11 was 165, down slightly from the 169 total the week before, while the total number from Jan. 1, 2020 to Aug. 31, 2021 was 1,933.
Although the numbers for the Vernon area were higher recently, 169 was a drop. Weekly numbers for Vernon were up to 263 new cases from Aug. 22 to 28. That was a jump from 133 new cases during the week of Aug. 15 to 21.
The Vernon health area includes Coldstream, Lumby and Cherryville.
In the Enderby health area, the Sept. 5 to 11 number of new cases was 26, up from 21 the week before, and the 20-month total was 187.
The Armstrong health area’s total for the week was 31, up from 18 new cases the week before, with the 20-month total at 194.
In the Revelstoke health area, which has generally bucked the consistent increase trend, the number of new cases was 12 for Sept. 5 to 11, an increase from five new cases the previous week. The 20-month total from Jan. 1, 2020 to Aug.31, 2021 in Revelstoke was 386.
To the west, the Kamloops health area’s weekly number of new cases from Sept. 5 to 11 was 270, up from 249 the previous two weeks, while the 20-month total was 2,765.
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