Coronavirus: Trend of rising COVID-19 cases continues in Interior Health region

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Interior Health region rose by four on Wednesday.

In announcing the latest COVID-19 statistics, provincial health officials said there were 21 new cases of the virus throughout B.C., including four in the Southern Interior.

That pushed the number of Interior Health cases — since the pandemic began — to 216, up from 209 on Monday and 202 last Friday.

According to B.C. Centre of Disease Control statistics, of those 216, two died and 199 have recovered, which translates into 15 active cases.

Notably, of the 216 total cases, 211 were laboratory diagnosed, with five being epi-linked. An epi-link case is someone who exhibits signs of the virus and had close contact with a confirmed case or lived or worked in a closed facility experiencing an outbreak.

Health officials said Wednesday’s totals pushed the number of confirmed cases in B.C. to 3,149, of which 2,753 have recovered.

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On Tuesday, health officials announced 13 new cases in B.C., while on Monday there were 21 new cases. Also, 41 cases were announced between July 10-12.

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In a joint statement on Wednesday, health minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said “we are concerned about the increase in new cases in recent days as COVID-19 continues to silently circulate in our communities.

“While early on, many of our long-term care and assisted living facilities were impacted, most of the new cases are in the broader community.

“Here in British Columbia, as we spend more time with others, we need to find our balance with COVID-19. We need to minimize the number of cases, manage new cases as they emerge, and modify our activities accordingly.”

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The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases elsewhere throughout B.C:

• Vancouver Coastal Health region: 1,023 (Tuesday, July 14: 1,015)
• Fraser Health region: 1,659 (Tuesday, July 14: 1,649)
• Vancouver Island Health region: 135 (Tuesday, July 14: 135)
• Northern B.C. Health region: 65 (Tuesday, July 14: 65)

The province also announced on Wednesday there were no new deaths. To date, 189 people in B.C. have died because of the disease.

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According to a website tracking COVID-19, there were 13,494,771 cases as of 5 p.m., on Wednesday, July 15, 2020.

The U.S. had the most cases at 3,490,735 and was followed by Brazil (1,966,748), India (936,181), Russia (745,197) and Peru (337,751). Canada was 20th at 110,589.