New data from the BC Centre for Disease Control shows a steep increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the Kamloops area over the last week.

There were 68 cases reported during the week of Dec. 27 to Jan. 2 – the latest weekly total for the area since the pandemic began – more than double the 27 cases reported in the area the week before.

Between Dec. 27 and Jan. 2, there were nine new cases in the Merritt area (up from two cases the week before), 76 in Vernon (up by 28), 37 in Revelstoke (up by 15), 139 in the Central Okanagan which includes Kelowna (down by 75), eight in Lillooet (up by six), four in Salmon Arm (up by two), and zero in the North Thompson which includes Clearwater (down by three).

The BC CDC publishes this local health area data every Wednesday. It also says as of the end of December, there were 346 cases in the Kamloops area.

The number of cases by community remains unclear as the Kamloops Local Health Area includes Sun Peaks, Barriere, Chase, Logan Lake, and the areas in between.

Speaking on the NL Morning News, Kamloops Councillor Dale Bass said the lack of information about COVID-19 infections in the area from Interior Health has her feeling angry and frustrated.

“I had friends and people I don’t even know say ‘Well we don’t have it in our city because we haven’t been told we have it in our city.’ But we did,” she said. “I have a nurse friend who was emailing me at night telling me how horrible it was at RIH because there were so many cases but we didn’t know it as a general population.”