For the first time since the pandemic began, the Sunshine Coast reached more than 100 new cases of COVID-19 reported for a one-week time span.
Between Dec. 26 and Jan. 1, there were 110 new cases of COVID-19 reported on the Coast. The previous week, Dec. 19 to 25 saw 49 new cases – a sharp increase after only three new cases reported for the region between Dec. 12 and 18. Before December 2021, the highest number of new cases in a week’s timespan reported on the Coast was 35 cases in late October 2021.
Between January 2020 and including December 2021, the Coast’s total of COVID-19 cases was 619.
During the week of Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, the Howe Sound area reported 208 new cases and Powell River reported 58.
As of Jan. 3, 37 per cent of children ages five to 11 years old have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Of Coasters ages 12 to 17 years old, 84 per cent had one shot and 81 per cent had two. Among adults ages 18 to 49, 85 per cent have had one dose and 80 per cent have had both. In the 50-plus category, 92 per cent of Coasters have had one jab and 90 per cent have had two. Seventy-four per cent of people 70 years and older have had a third dose of a COVID-19 immunization.
