Photo: BC CDC

New COVID-19 cases by health service delivery area, identified between April 2 and 8.

Last week, the Okanagan recorded its highest single week of new COVID-19 cases since the BC Centre for Disease Control began publishing the data in early October.

Between April 2 and 8, 393 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the Okanagan health service delivery area, a 76 per cent increase from the week prior. The previous largest jump in cases in a single week came back in mid-December at the height of the pandemic's second wave, when 375 cases were recorded in the region.

New cases have risen rapidly in the Okanagan since reaching a weekly low of 69 new cases five weeks ago. Last week's new cases give the region a weekly infection rate of 100 new infections per 100,000 people.

Other parts of the Interior have also been experiencing concerning growth in new cases over the past week, with new record weekly highs in both the Kootenay Boundary and East Kootenay regions.

The Kootenay Boundary health service delivery area recorded 33 new cases, for an infection rate of 40 new cases per 100,000 people, while the East Kootenay region recorded 83 new cases – an infection rate of 98 cases per 100,000 people.

The numbers of tests administered across the Interior rose by about 34 per cent between last week and the week prior, and the test positivity rate in the Interior has been rising steadily since about mid-March. As of April 8, the region's test positivity rate was 7.3 per cent.

As of Friday, there were 833 active cases of the virus across the Interior. Twenty-three of these people are currently hospitalized, nine of whom are in critical care.

The record breaking new weekly cases have not been contained to just the Interior. Most Lower Mainland regions recorded their highest single week new case counts last week, save for the Fraser South region, which came close. The Northeast health service delivery area also recorded its worst week for new cases.

The new cases have reached such a high level that the BC Centre for Disease Control has changed its colour scheme on the weekly maps they publish. While dark red used to indicate an average daily rate of infection per 100,000 people of 15 or more, dark red now indicates a daily infection rate of 30 or more.

The Fraser South, Northeast and North Shore-Coast Garibaldi regions are all shaded in dark red on the latest map.