New COVID-19 cases in the upper North Thompson continue to remain steady.
Between April 18 to 24, the North Thompson Local Health Area had no new cases, a two-week trend since reporting one case at the beginning of April. Surrounding LHAs in Interior Health saw one case in both 100 Mile House and the Cariboo/Chilcotin, 46 in Kamloops and seven in Revelstoke.
Statistics from the BC Centre for Disease Control are updated weekly, on Wednesdays.
The 18-plus vaccination clinic in Clearwater came to an end mid-April and to date, 2,547 people received their shots — that’s just over 58 per cent of the population of the LHA, though only 90 those people are fully vaccinated. The numbers include those from Clearwater and nearby Vavenby, as Blue River is set to have their vaccination clinic start up May 13.
At press time, data from the BC Centre for Disease Control showed 1,696,130 eligible individuals in the province have received their first shot of a vaccination, and an additional 90,642 are fully vaccinated. In IH, 266,224 have received their first shots and 13,304 are fully vaccinated. Just over one-third of the population of IH has received their first vaccine dose.
A group of modelling experts in British Columbia note projections showing a 30 to 40 per cent decline in transmission rates since March.
Its figures show the dip reflects a combination of vaccinations in hot spots and tighter restrictions on activities, along with individual efforts to wear masks, wash hands and stay physically distant.
The group added substantial levels of vaccination should be reached by June and that’s when careful relaxation of restrictions can begin.