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253 new COVID-19 cases, 4 more deaths in Interior Health over the weekend

More than 1,000 cases in the region remain active
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A health-care worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a UHN COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Toronto on Thursday, January 7, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Interior Health (IH) is reporting four more deaths and 253 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend. That brings the death toll in the region to 50 since the pandemic began.

The four new deaths all came from care homes in the Okanagan region — one at Sunnybank in Oliver, two at Noric House in Vernon and one at Heritage Retirement Residence in West Kelowna.

“I offer our condolences to the families, caregivers and loved ones of these four people who all passed in long-term care,” said Susan Brown, president and CEO of IH. “We are in our most challenging period of this pandemic but hope is on the horizon as we continue rolling out vaccines every day. Now is the time to stay focused on the precautions that limit the spread of this challenging virus.”

A total of 1,058 cases are active, marking the first time the region has hit more than 1,000 active cases. Thirty-eight are hospitalized and 10 are in intensive care.

The McKinney Place long-term care outbreak has been declared over. There was a total of 78 cases (55 residents, 23 staff) and 17 deaths connected to the outbreak.

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IH offered the following update on ongoing outbreaks:

  • Cariboo Memorial Hospital has 10 staff cases.
  • Brocklehurst Gemstone long-term care in Kamloops has 18 cases: 14 residents and four staff.
  • Sunnybank long-term care in Oliver has 34 cases: 26 residents and eight staff, with two deaths connected to this outbreak.
  • Creekside Landing long-term care in Vernon has 32 cases: 18 residents and 14 staff, with one death connected to this outbreak.
  • Williams Lake Seniors Village has two cases: one resident and one staff.
  • Noric House long-term care in Vernon has 47 cases: 26 residents and 21 staff, with two deaths connected to this outbreak.
  • Heritage Square long-term care in Vernon has 63 cases: 47 residents and 16 staff, with seven deaths connected to this outbreak.
  • Heritage Retirement Residence in West Kelowna has 46 cases: 41 residents and five staff, with three deaths connected to this outbreak.
  • Teck mining operations remains at 16 IH cases linked to the outbreak.
  • Village by the Station long-term care in Penticton has 10 cases: five residents and five staff, with one death connected to this outbreak.
  • Mountainview Village long-term care in Kelowna has 16 cases: eight residents and eight staff, with two deaths connected to this outbreak.

Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com


@michaelrdrguez
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