COVID-19 update: B.C. adds 204 cases in highest single-day increase since June 5
The surge in COVID-19 cases in B.C.'s Interior that has prompted new restrictions for Kelowna and surrounding communities continued Thursday, with health officials announcing 204 new infections in the province, 107 of them in the Interior Health region.
Other regions of B.C. recorded fewer new cases Thursday, with 58 in Fraser Health, 23 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 14 in Island Health and two in Northern Health.
The 204 cases added Thursday represent the largest single-day jump since June 5, when B.C. added 217 new infections to its total.
The latest numbers bring the province's rolling seven-day average for new cases to 131, the highest it's been since June 13.
There are currently 1,055 active cases of the COVID-19 in B.C., including 51 people who are hospitalized, 20 of them in intensive care.
The last time B.C.'s active caseload topped 1,000 was more than a month ago, on June 26.
There were no new deaths related to COVID-19 over the last 24 hours.
Since the pandemic began, B.C. has seen 149,648 cases of the disease and 1,771 deaths, overall.
Though case counts have been rising across the province in recent days, Interior Health has seen the bulk of new infections. As of Thursday, 600 of the province's active cases were located in the Interior.
As a result of the surge, authorities announced Wednesday that they were re-introducing a mask mandate for indoor public spaces in the Central Okanagan region. They also declared a COVID-19 outbreak in that area, which includes the City of Kelowna and several surrounding communities.
The local business community is pushing back against the province's handling of the new rules, saying that, although they support efforts to reduce caseloads, they were not given enough warning that new restrictions were coming.
Health officials have blamed the rising caseloads in the Interior on lower rates of immunization there, saying most of the people testing positive in the Kelowna area are young people who have had only a first dose of vaccine or are totally unvaccinated.
Province-wide, B.C. has now administered first shots of COVID-19 vaccines to 81 per cent of people ages 12 and older, and 64.1 per cent of that age group has now had a second shot, as well.
B.C. does not report cases by vaccination status on a daily basis, but officials announced earlier this week that fewer than five per cent of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the province between June 15 and July 15 had received both doses of vaccine.
The vast majority - 78 per cent - of infections during that period were among people who had not received either a first or a second dose.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.