Prince George area reports spike in weekly COVID-19 cases

NORTHERN BC- The Prince George health service delivery was one of the areas in BC with the highest number of new COVID-19 cases from January 9 to 15. With 565 new cases, the HSDA was among Surrey (1,972), Greater Victoria (885), Central Okanogan (836) and Burnaby (680). This is 163 more than the week prior for the PG area, when 402 were identified between January 2 to 8. The PG HSDA also encompasses Mcbride, Valemount and Mackenzie.

Elsewhere in the north, the Peace River north and south areas saw 115 and 85 new cases during this time, respectively. Nechako identifed 41 new cases, while Burns Lake and Upper Skeena saw 53 and 40, respectively. Meanwhile, the Smithers was the site of a staggering 293 cases.

Earlier this week, Northern Health announced some changes are being made due to staffing shortages caused by increasing COVID-19 cases. Some of these changes include surgery postponements at UHNBC, Wrinch Memorial Hospital in Hazelton, Bulkley Valley District Hospital in Smithers, and at Northeast BC facilities including Dawson Creek & District Hospital.

The Northern Health region has reported 1,435 new cases since last Thursday. As of yesterday (Wednesday), the region has 1,594 active.