Active COVID-19 cases in Delta lowest since early February

The number of active COVID-19 cases in Delta fell again last week for the fourth week a row, reaching its lowest point since early February.

Every Wednesday, the BC Centre for Disease Control releases a map showing the geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases by local health area of residence. The latest weekly map shows Delta had 71 cases for the week of May 23-29, 24 fewer than the week previous.

Delta’s case total has fallen for six of the last seven weeks, only adding 28 cases the week ending May 1. Previous to that, the numbers had been climbing for 10 straight weeks before hitting a record high of 262 the week ending April 10.

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The overall number of active cases in the Fraser Health region decreased for the sixth straight week to 1,126, down 652 from the week previous.

All but one of the 13 local health areas in the Fraser Health region saw decreases from the previous week, most notably in Surrey (460, down 261), Abbotsford (130, down 127) and Burnaby (123, down 59). Agassiz-Harrison had no cases last week.

Only Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows saw an increase in cases — up eight from the previous week for a total of 61.

According to the newly-launched BC CDC COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard, Delta had an overall daily average of eight new cases per 100,000 people for the week of May 25-31, down from 12 the week before.

Broken down by neighbourhood, the rate changes to 11 for North Delta (down from 19 the previous week), two for Ladner (down from five) and six for Tsawwassen (up from four). Delta’s total case count represented three per cent of all cases reported in B.C. that week — down from four per cent the week before — even though Delta is home to only two per cent of the province’s population.

The overall test positivity rate in Delta for the week of May 25-31 was five per cent (down from 8.4 the week before), but the rates varied widely across the three community health service areas (CHSAs). North Delta still had the highest rate (eight per cent, down from 11.9 the week before), while Ladner had the lowest rate (two per cent, down from 4.5 the week before). Tsawwassen, which is comprised of both the Delta community and the Tsawwassen First Nation, had a rate of three per cent, down one-tenth of a per cent from the week before.

The positivity rates were higher when only looking at public tests: nine per cent in North Delta (down from 12.9 per cent the week before), two per cent in Ladner (down from five), four per cent in Tsawwassen (up from 3.2), and six per cent for Delta as a whole (down from 9.3).

The dashboard also shows breakdowns of vaccine coverage across the CHSAs. As of May 31, 78 per cent of adults aged 18 and over in Delta have received at least their first does of vaccine, five per cent more than the week before. Broken down by CHSA, that is 76 per cent in North Delta (up from 73), and 80 per cent in both Ladner and Tsawwassen (up from 74).

For adults 50 and over, vaccine coverage was 86 per cent in North Delta (up from 84 per cent the week before) and 88 per cent in both Ladner and Tsawwassen (up from 87). Overall, coverage in Delta was 87 per cent (up from 86).

New this week, the dashboard also includes vaccine coverage rates for “adults” aged 12 and up. With those aged 12-17 included, the overall rate for Delta was 73 per cent. Broken down by CHSA, that is 71 per cent in North Delta and 76 per cent for both Ladner and Tsawwassen.

SEE ALSO: NACI says you can mix-and-match AstraZeneca, mRNA COVID vaccines (June 1, 2021)

As of Thursday (May 27), there were no outbreaks at any Delta long-term care, assisted living or independent living facilities, no public exposure notifications, and no Delta businesses had been temporarily closed due to COVID-19 spread among workers.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced April 8 that workplaces with three or more people who have COVID-19 and likely transmission in the workplace will be ordered to close, unless it is in the overriding public interest to keep it open. The closure generally last for 10 days unless otherwise determined by health officials.

Meanwhile, Fraser Health’s website listed exposures at four Delta schools as of Thursday morning: Burnsview Secondary (May 20), Chalmers Elementary (May 20), Heath Traditional Elementary (May 27 and 28), and École du Bois-Joli (May 20 and 25). Last Thursday, there were 13 schools listed.

Fraser Health defines exposure as “a single person with lab-confirmed COVID-19 infection who attended school during their infectious period.” Two or more individuals is defined as a cluster, while an outbreak describes a situation involving “multiple individuals with lab-confirmed COVID-19 infections when transmission is likely widespread within the school setting.”

The latest COVID data came as health officials reported 194 new COVID-19 cases in the province over the past 24 hours, the second straight day with numbers below 200 and the lowest infection rate in six months. Most of the new cases announced Wednesday — 122 — were in the Fraser Health region.

Wednesday’s cases brought the total number of active cases in B.C. to 2,662, with four new deaths. B.C. has seen a total of 144,667 cases and 1,707 deaths since the pandemic began.

THE LATEST: B.C.’s COVID-19 infections below 200 for second day Wednesday (June 2, 2021)

The most recent BC CDC map showing total cumulative cases by local health area from the start of the pandemic through the end of April 2021 shows there were a total of 4,327 COVID-19 cases in Delta through to April 30, meaning there were 990 new cases last month, compared to 614 in March.

The map also shows there were 7,043 new cases in Surrey in April, compared to 4,406 in March, and 17,086 new cases across the Fraser Health region, compared to 10,554 in March. Vancouver Coastal Health, meanwhile, had 7,497 new cases in April, compared to 5,726 in March.