The Delta variant now makes up the majority of COVID-19 cases in the Interior Health region. (Black Press file photo)

Delta variant accounts for majority of new COVID-19 cases in the Interior

Eighty-nine per cent of new COVID-19 cases in the Interior were the Delta variant

  • Aug. 1, 2021 12:00 a.m.

The Delta varaint now accounts for the majority of recent COVID-19 infections in the Interior.

Eighty-nine per cent of the 314 positive tests between July 18 and 24 were the Delta variant, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control’s weekly update. The rest of the 11 per cent was the Gamma variant, a strain that was first documented in Brazil in November.

This comes after the province and Interior Health declared a COVID-19 outbreak across the region and reinstated mask mandates for the Central Okanagan. The majority of B.C.’s new COVID-19 cases come from the Interior. Kelowna has the most new cases per capita in the Okanagan – downtown Kelowna has 40 cases per 100,000 people while the rest of the city has 30 cases per 100,000 people.

READ MORE: BREAKING: Mask mandate returns to Central Okanagan, COVID-19 outbreak declared


@paulatr12paula.tran@kelownacapnews.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our daily newsletter.

Kelowna Capital News