Interior among leading areas for new Covid-19 cases

Jul 20, 2020 | 3:38 PM

Covid-19 cases are on the rise in British Columbia, including in the Interior.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer, has announced 102 new cases of the virus since Friday, including 45 cases in Interior Health.

“A good number of the new cases are related to a number of events and parties in the Kelowna area where people have moved from other parts of B.C. and Canada and then gone back to their homes,” stated Henry who said they are starting to see people who test positive have a large number of contacts.

Henry said there are now 60 cases associated with the multiple exposures in and around Kelowna the last few weeks.

The new cases raise the provincial total since the start of the outbreak to 3,300.

Reality Check - Life Without a Home

Vernon couple sleep on street as part of homeless awareness initiative

May 02, 2026

Support for the unhoused

Sleeping outside for a cause: Vernon pair backs homeless outreach

May 01, 2026

Youth Mental Health Care

VJH Foundation commits $500K for Foundry North Okanagan

May 01, 2026

There are now 253 active cases, with 16 people in hospital, and 4 in critical care or ICU.

“We’re starting to see an upward bend of our curve. What this shows is that we do have a possibility of having explosive growth in our outbreak in B.C. if were not careful in how we progress over the summer. I will say though, we are thankfully still having small numbers of cases per day,” stated the province’s top doctor.

There has been no new deaths (still 189 total).

A total of 2,858 people have recovered from the virus.

“There are a few things we can all do to push that curve back down. Keep your groups small and only spend time with those you know. The more people you see, the more likely someone will have COVID-19 and will spread it to others,” said Henry.

“If you are going out, be considerate of people who are working at the restaurants and pubs that you are visiting. Remember servers are at higher risk because of the many people they see, so be kind and show gratitude as they follow the WorkSafeBC requirements for safe operations. Ensure your groups are no larger than six people, avoid table-hopping and stay home if you are feeling unwell. If you are hosting a small gathering, remember ‘fewer faces and bigger spaces.’ Keep your gatherings small, know everyone who is coming, stay outside as much as possible and have a designated ‘contact keeper’ so you are able to quickly alert everyone afterward, if necessary.”

Henry said there are still three active outbreaks in health care system, and there are new community exposure alerts, some involving flights in and out of the Victoria, Vancouver and Kelowna airports.

“These alerts are issued when were unable to ensure that we’ve connected to everybody who might have been exposed,” said Henry.

Check the BC Centre for Disease Control website for more details.

There are no new cases at Site C work camp in Fort St. John.

—

Case counts:

1,042 Vancouver Coastal Health Region

1,713 Fraser Health

142 Vancouver Island

280 Interior Health (up from 235 Friday)

69 in Northern Health

54 people who reside outside of Canada

—