Active COVID-19 cases in Delta fell slightly last week after climbing into double digits the week before.
The latest weekly map released by the BC Centre for Disease Control showing the geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases by local health area (LHA) of residence shows Delta had seven cases for the week of July 4 to 10, down three from the week before.
Previously, Delta’s case total had been falling for 10 of the last 12 weeks, only adding 28 cases the week ending May 1 and four cases the week ending July 3. Previous to that, the numbers had been climbing for 10 straight weeks before hitting a record high of 262 the week ending April 10.
The six cases for the week ending June 26 marked the fewest active COVID-19 cases in Delta since health officials began releasing city-level data in December.
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The overall number of active cases in the Fraser Health region increased for the first time in twelve weeks to 150, up from 110 the week previous — the lowest total since the BC CDC began releasing the weekly LHA maps.
Five of the 13 local health areas in the Fraser Health region saw decreases from the previous week, seven saw increases and one saw no change.
The most notable increase was in Surrey, which had 50 active cases last week — up 22 from the week before. Two LHAs had no active cases last week — Hope (down six from the week before) and Agassiz-Harrison (unchanged from the week before).
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Data shared on the BC CDC’s COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard Tuesday shows Delta had five cases for the week of July 6 to 12, for an overall daily average of one new case per 100,000 people, unchanged from the two weeks before.
Broken down by community health service areas (CHSAs), that’s one case per 100,000 people in North Delta (down from two), and none in Ladner (consistent with the previous four weeks) or Tsawwassen (down from one the week before). The CHSA of Tsawwassen is comprised of both the Delta community and the Tsawwassen First Nation.
Delta’s total case count represented one per cent of all cases reported in B.C. that week, down from four per cent the week before. Delta is home to two per cent of the province’s population.
The overall test positivity rate in Delta for the week of June 28 to July 4 was zero per cent, down from one the week before, but the rates varied slightly between Delta’s three CHSAs.
North Delta and Ladner both had rates of zero per cent, a two per cent drop in North Delta and one per cent drop in Ladner compared to the week before. Tsawwassen’s rate was one per cent, unchanged from the week before.
Positivity rates were similar when looking only at public tests — one per cent for Delta as a whole (down from two the week before) and zero per cent for North Delta and Ladner (down two per cent and one per cent, respectively, from the week before). Tsawwassen’s rate was two per cent, up from one the week before.
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The dashboard also shows breakdowns of vaccine coverage across the CHSAs by age: 12+, 18+, 18-49 and 50+.
As of July 12, Delta once again led all other LHAs in Fraser Health with 86 per cent of adults aged 12 and over having received at least their first does of vaccine, up one per cent from the week before. Broken down by CHSA, that’s 85 per cent in North Delta (unchanged from the week before), 88 per cent in Ladner (up from 87) and 86 per cent in Tsawwassen (unchanged from the week before).
Limited to adults 18 and over, those rates were 87 per cent for Delta as a whole (up from 86), 86 for North Delta (up from 84), 88 for Ladner (unchanged) and 87 for Tsawwassen (up from 86). However, vaccine uptake was markedly different between those 18-49 and those 50 and over.
For adults 50 and over, vaccine coverage in Delta was 91 per cent (up from 90 the week previous). Broken down by CHSA, that’s 90 per cent in North Delta (up from 90), 92 in Ladner (unchanged) and 91 in Tsawwassen (up from 90).
For those aged 18-49 (a category only made available via the dashboard for the past few weeks), vaccine coverage was markedly lower — 82 per cent for Delta overall (up from 81), 82 for North Delta (up from 81), 84 for Ladner (up from 82) and 81 for Tsawwassen (up from 80).
After Delta, the other LHAs in the regions with the highest vaccine coverage for adults aged 12 and over are New Westminster (84 per cent), Surrey (83 per cent) and South Surrey/White Rock, Burnaby and Tri-Cities (82 per cent).
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On July 2, the BC CDC posted an updated map showing total cumulative cases by local health area through to the end of June. The map shows there were a total of 4,907 COVID-19 cases in Delta through to June 30, meaning there were only 92 new cases last month, compared to 488 in May, 990 in April and 614 in March.
The map also shows there were 529 new cases in Surrey, compared to 4,012 in May, 7,043 in April and 4,406 in March, and 1,636 new cases across the Fraser Health region, compared to 8,913 in May, 17,086 in April and 10,554 in March. Vancouver Coastal Health, meanwhile, had 563 new cases in June, compared to 2,833 in May, 7,497 in April and 5,726 in March.
As of Thursday (July 15), 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 no exposures at any Delta schools.
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.”
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