Cases are still surging while hospitalizations are also on a steep incline, which is pushing the health care system in the region to its max, where resources were already limited before the pandemic landed in March.
Christmas break has also started for schools throughout Northern Health, something that may be needed for the time-being as the list of exposure events has rapidly expanded over the past month.
But perhaps the most concerning part is that Northern Health currently has the highest seven-day rolling average positivity rate for the virus in all of B.C., currently at 10.2 per cent from the most recent data from the BC Centre for Disease Control.
Friday’s rate was 12 per cent, after 47 positive cases were recorded out of 383 tests were administered.
Other health authorities in B.C. have much lower positivity rate with Vancouver Coastal Health currently at 3.5 per cent, Island Health at one per cent, Interior Health at 6.8 per cent and Fraser Health at 7.7 per cent.
As of Dec. 17, the rolling seven-day average for positive returns across the province is 5.8 per cent.
Northern B.C.’s test turn-around time is sitting at 34.5 hours; the province as a whole is 23.3 hours.
As of Friday, Northern Health has a recorded total of 1,509 cases (47 new yesterday) while 419 are currently active.
There are 45 people in hospitals throughout the north while 20 of those are currently in ICU.
The authority has 15 recorded deaths.
