Cranbrook smashed it’s weekly COVID-19 case count at 183 between Jan. 2-8, according to the latest data from the BC Centre for Disease Control.
Cases have spiked dramatically in the East Kootenay, as Fernie also set a record, shooting up to 263 cases in the same reporting week, and Kimberley also posted a record number at 45 cases.
Regionally, Nelson, at 183, and Trail, at 175, also posted pandemic highs.
In Cranbrook, recent case counts have already eclipsed the summer wave that peaked at the end of September. However, given the rise in case counts provincially, the strain on COVID-19 testing capacity has made it difficult to accurately identify and track test-positive cases, as actual numbers are likely higher.
Cranbrook was up to a 35 per cent test positivity rate between Jan. 4-10, while Kimberley was at 29 per cent and Fernie was at 44 per cent.
As the Omicron variant sweeps across the province, hospitalizations are key metric to watch. Provincially, there are 500 patients hospitalized due to COVID-19, 102 of which are in critical care. In Interior Health, that breaks down to 42 COVID-19 hospitalizations, 19 of which are in critical care.
The BC CDC does not release hospitalization data broken down by hospital facility.
