UPDATE: 5:10 p.m.
Interior Health has clarified that all 130 of the confirmed COVID-19 cases linked to Kelowna since June 26 are residents of B.C.’s Interior.
In prior weeks, Interior Health has provided the number of cases linked to the “Kelowna cluster” across B.C., with several cases coming from the Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health regions. Dr. Bonnie Henry has also previously said that some residents of Alberta were diagnosed with the virus after coming in contact with it in Kelowna.
But on Thursday, IH spokesperson Karl Hardt said the health authority would no longer be publicly releasing the number of COVID-19 cases linked to Kelowna from residents outside the Interior.
Since changing their reporting of these numbers Thursday, IH has not disclosed how many of the 130 cases linked to Kelowna are new. Across the Interior, four new cases were identified Thursday, but it remains unclear if all of these are linked to Kelowna.
ORIGINAL: 4:20 p.m.
After the entire Interior Health region saw no new cases of COVID-19 for the first time since early July on Wednesday, four new cases have been identified Thursday.
The new cases come after 29 new cases were announced across B.C., bringing the number of active cases in the province to 242. Of these, 48 are within the Interior Health region.
Over the past few weeks, Interior Health has been reporting the number of cases specifically linked to multiple exposure events in downtown Kelowna in early July. Starting Thursday though, IH is now releasing the number of cases linked to anywhere in Kelowna since June 26, which now sits at 130.
“We now know the situation has shifted into more broad community transmission beyond these initial cases in downtown Kelowna,” IH said in a statement.
“For this reason, today IH’s [medical health officers] will begin reporting the number of cases occurring across Kelowna, in addition to the cases they could confirm were associated with the early July events.
“This new reporting will more accurately reflect what is happening in the city and region.”
These 130 cases linked to Kelowna are not all residents of the Interior, but IH has not said how many are. Due to the change in reporting, it’s currently unclear if all four of the new cases in the IH region are linked to Kelowna.
