Interior Health (IH) is celebrating a drop in COVID-19 cases around the region.

On March 23, the health authority鈥檚 top doctor thanked the public following a noticeable drop in daily case counts in the last few weeks.

鈥溾�� I thank everyone for doing their part and continuing to follow the precautions,鈥� said IH chief medical health officer Dr. Albert de Villiers.

According to the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), in the last 24 hours, 40 new cases of the virus have been detected in the Interior. This brings the total active case numbers to 343 and the total overall cases to 8,127 since testing began.

Around the province, there were 646 new cases reported today, with 5,409 still active in B.C.

IH noted after cleaning up some data, they have added 36 historic cases to the total number of cases in the region.

While cases are dropping, IH asked the public to continue to exercise caution.

鈥淎s the vaccination roll-out accelerates, more and more people will have that added layer of protection, but in the meantime, keep your activities outside,鈥� said de Villiers.

IH provided an update on outbreaks in the region:

• Cottonwoods Care Centre long-term care in 琉璃神社 has 23 cases: 20 residents and three staff. (No increase since March 15)
• 琉璃神社 General Hospital unit 5B has eight cases: four patients and four staff, with one death connected to the outbreak. (No increase since March 19)

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