Curve bends in BC, locally

There were only six cases of COVID-19 between Dec. 13 and Dec. 19 reported in the Fernie local health area according to BCCDC data.

Previous weeks of reported cases showed higher numbers in the area.

Between Nov. 29 and Dec. 5 there were 11 cases reported, and between Dec. 6 and Dec. 12 there were 12 cases reported.

The Fernie local health area is areas served by the Elk Valley Hospital - Elkford, Sparwood, Fernie and the South Country.

Broadly, across the province, the number of new cases reported has been in decline since the end of November, with new cases reported in the province declining from a high of 946 on Nov. 23.

Interior Health’s high was on Dec. 10, when it reported 107 new cases, but since then numbers have been doing down, with 71 new cases reported on Dec. 24.

At that time, there were 675 active cases within the region, and of those only 29 were in hospital, and six were in intensive care.

Locally, local employer Teck Resources reported a cluster of 27 cases across three of its sites in the Elk Valley in mid-December, though only 16 of those cases were local while the remainder were a mix of residents of other health regions and out-of-province workers. The numbers have remained unchanged since the initial reports.

READ MORE: 70 new cases of COVID-19 in Interior Health