Three more Interior residents recently died from COVID-19

Photo: Darren Handschuh

Three more Interior residents have died from COVID-19, including two residents of Vernon's Noric House care home.

With the new deaths Wednesday, 55 Interior residents have now died from COVID-19, including 38 care home residents.

“Two of the people we lost lived in long-term care at Noric House in Vernon, and one was a member of our community who died in hospital,' said Susan Brown, president and CEO of Interior Health.

“I want to offer our condolences to the families and caregivers who have lost a loved one. Let’s protect our most vulnerable by using our layers of protection: avoid social gatherings, stay home when feeling ill, wash your hands, and wear a mask.”

COVID-19 outbreaks were declared over at Kelowna's Mountainview Village and Penticton's Village by the Station care homes Wednesday. Two residents of Mountainview died from COVID-19, after eight residents and eight staff contracted the virus, while one resident of Village by the Station died, after five residents and five staff contracted it.

There remains active outbreaks at seven long-term care homes in the Interior:

• Brocklehurst Gemstone in Kamloops – 16 residents and five staff (one new), one death
• Sunnybank in Oliver – 26 residents and nine staff, two deaths
• Creekside Landing in Vernon – 20 residents (two new) and 12 staff, one death
• Williams Lake Seniors Village – one resident and one staff
• Noric House in Vernon – 32 residents (one new) and 19 staff, four deaths
• Heritage Square in Vernon – 47 residents and 18 staff (one new), seven deaths
• Heritage Retirement Residence in West Kelowna – 41 residents and five staff, three deaths

Eleven staff at Williams Lake's Cariboo Memorial Hospital have tested positive for the virus, up one from Tuesday, while the outbreak connected to the Teck Mining operation remains contained to 17 Interior Health residents.

The outbreak at Oliver's McKinney Place care home, where 17 residents died, was declared over on Monday.