The 95 new cases of COVID-19 in the Interior Health region in the last 24 hours are a significant contribution to the province’s 564 new cases announced today, Jan. 21.

Many of the new cases in the Interior Health region are in a community cluster in the Williams Lake area, according to a joint statement issued by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix.

“Despite our COVID-19 curve trending in the right direction, we continue to have new outbreaks, community clusters and high numbers of new cases,” the statement says. “COVID-19 continues to spread widely in our communities. We need to do everything we can to break the chain of transmission.”

There have also been 15 more deaths, bringing the provincial death toll since the start of the pandemic to 1,119.

Of the new cases, 234 were in the Fraser Health region, 111 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 47 in the Vancouver Island Health region and 76 in the Northern Health region.

There are 4,450 active cases in B.C. with 309 people in hospital, 68 of whom are in intensive care.

The province has now administered 104,901 doses of vaccine.

Dr. Henry and Dix will give an update on the vaccination plan tomorrow.

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