COVID-19 cases in the East Kootenay and Creston Valley have shot upward dramatically to 509 new infections last week, from 130 the week before.
New data from the BC Centre for Disease Control covers Dec. 26th to Jan 1st.
The Elk Valley was the region’s hot spot, as case numbers jumped up by 441% to 211 infections confirmed in seven days.
In the previous reporting period, from Dec. 19th to 25th, the Elk Valley had 39.
Cranbrook had the next highest infection numbers, with 90 cases reported on Boxing Week. This was an increase from 38 the previous week.
Increases were seen across the region, including Golden and Windermere, which reported 81 and 70 cases respectively. Between Dec. 19th to 25th, Golden confirmed 17 infections, while Windermere had 23.
After two weeks of declining case numbers in Kimberley and Creston, those numbers shot upwards along with the rest of the region. Kimberley had 25 cases, while Creston had 29, this is in comparison to 11 and two respectively in the previous time frame.
Looking at the region as a whole, the week-to-week numbers increased by 291% in the East Kootenay.
While the increase looks sharp, hospitalization numbers in the Interior Health region remain relatively low. As of January 5th, 37 people are being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals within the health region, and 22 of those patients are in critical care.
The number of vaccinated people over 12 years old continues to slowly climb across the East Kootenay. BCCDC data on the percentage of people 12 and up who have received two doses can be found below:
- Cranbrook:
- 12 to 17: 73%
- 18 to 49: 78%
- 50 and older: 89%
- Creston:
- 12 to 17: 49%
- 18 to 49: 62%
- 50 and older: 80%
- Fernie:
- 12 to 17: 77%
- 18 to 49: 84%
- 50 and older: 88%
- Golden:
- 12 to 17: 78%
- 18 to 49: 93%
- 50 and older: 88%
- Kimberley:
- 12 to 17: 86%
- 18 to 49: 85%
- 50 and older: 91%
- Windermere:
- 12 to 17: 74%
- 18 to 49: 88%
- 50 and older: 93%