Number of active COVID-19 cases in Delta holds steady

The number of active COVID-19 cases in Delta levelled off last week as the overall total across the Fraser Health region fell by more than 200.

Every Wednesday, the BC Centre for Disease Control releases a map showing the geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases by local health area (LHA) of residence. The latest weekly map shows Delta had 21 cases for the week of June 13 to 19, three fewer than the week previous.

Delta’s case total has fallen for nine of the last 10 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.

Last week’s total marked the lowest number of 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 decreased for the ninth straight week to 281, down 222 from the week previous. Last week was also the third week in a row — and third time ever — that the weekly total for the region was below 1,000 since the BC CDC began releasing the weekly LHA maps in December of last year.

Ten of the 13 local health areas in the Fraser Health region saw decreases from the previous week, with Hope maintaining it’s zero case count from the previous week. South Surrey/White Rock also had zero active cases last week.

The most notable decrease was in Surrey, which had 71 cases — 101 fewer than the week previous and also the first time Surrey had fewer than 100 cases since the BC CDC began releasing the weekly LHA maps.

Chilliwack, meanwhile, added 10 new cases, bringing its total to 27. Mission also saw an increase last week, from four to eight cases.

According to data shared on the BC CDC’s COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard, Delta had an overall daily average of two new cases per 100,000 people for the week of June 15-21, down from three the week before.

Broken down by neighbourhood, that’s three cases per 100,000 people in North Delta and none in Ladner (consistent with the previous week), and two for Tsawwassen (down from five the previous week).

Delta’s total case count represented three per cent of all cases reported in B.C. that week, up from two 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 15-21 was two per cent (down from three per cent from the week before), but the rates varied between Delta’s three community health service areas (CHSAs).

North Delta still had the highest rate (four per cent, unchanged from the week before), while Ladner had the lowest rate (zero per cent for the third week in a row). Tsawwassen, which is comprised of both the Delta community and the Tsawwassen First Nation, had a rate of two per cent, down from three per cent from the week before.

The positivity rate in North Delta was the same when only looking at public tests — four per cent, up from three the week before — but slightly higher for Delta as a whole — three per cent, unchanged from the week before. Ladner had a rate of zero per cent (down from one), while Tsawwassen had a rate of three per cent (down from four).

SEE ALSO: B.C. health officials say mixing mRNA vaccines is safe, effective (June 23, 2021)

The dashboard also shows breakdowns of vaccine coverage across the CHSAs by age: 12+, 18+ and 50+.

As of June 21, 83 per cent of adults aged 12 and over in Delta have received at least their first does of vaccine, up two per cent from the week before. Broken down by CHSA, that is 81 per cent in North Delta (unchanged from last week), 86 per cent in Ladner (up from 83) and 85 per cent in Tsawwassen (up from 81).

Limited to adults 18 and over, those rate go up to 83 per cent in North Delta (up from 79), 87 per cent in Ladner (up from 83) and 86 per cent in Tsawwassen (up from 83), for an overall rate of 85 per cent across Delta (up from 81).

For adults 50 and over, vaccine coverage was 90 per cent in North Delta (up from 88 per cent the week before), 92 per cent in Ladner (up from 90) and 91 per cent in Tsawwassen (up from 89 the week before). Overall, 55+ coverage in Delta was 91 per cent (up from 89).

SEE ALSO: Surrey hits 80% vaccination rate (June 23, 2021)

On June 7, the BC CDC posted an updated map showing total cumulative cases by local health area through to the end of May. The map shows there were a total of 4,815 COVID-19 cases in Delta through to May 31, meaning there were 488 new cases last month, compared to 990 in April and 614 in March.

The map also shows there were 4,012 new cases in Surrey in May, compared to 7,043 in April and 4,406 in March, and 8,913 new cases across the Fraser Health region, compared to 17,086 in April and 10,554 in March. Vancouver Coastal Health, meanwhile, had 2,833 new cases in May, compared to 7,497 in April and 5,726 in March.

As of Thursday (June 17), 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 only three Delta schools as of Thursday morning: Gray Elementary (June 10), Hellings Elementary (June 10, 11, 14, 15 and 16) and South Park Elementary (June 11). Last week, there were two listed exposures; the previous two Thursdays (June 3 and 10) there were four listed exposures, compared to 13 the week of May 27.

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 113 new COVID-19 cases in the province over the past 24 hours — 51 of them in the Fraser Health region — as numbers remained stable over the past five days.

Wednesday’s cases brought the total number of active cases in B.C. to 1,454, with four new deaths. B.C. has seen a total of 146,674 cases and 1,738 deaths since the pandemic began.

THE LATEST: B.C. sees 87 more COVID-19 cases, none in Northern Health (June 23, 2021)

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