The number of COVID cases outside of Metro Vancouver has only risen slowly in recent months.

The number of COVID cases outside of Metro Vancouver has only risen slowly in recent months.

CHARTS: Beyond Metro Vancouver, COVID-19 cases in B.C. haven’t increased much recently

COVID-19 case counts outside of Metro Vancouver have been level since July

  • Sep. 18, 2020 12:00 a.m.

The number of COVID cases in B.C. may have risen significantly in the last month – but that’s largely true only for Metro Vancouver and the province’s north.

In fact, beyond the province’s biggest city, the number of confirmed COVID cases hasn’t actually changed much over the last two months.

Data collected and analyzed by The News shows that the number of cases detected outside of Metro Vancouver has remained largely unchanged over the last two months.

In both the Okanagan and Fraser East region, the number of COVID-19 cases have dropped considerably. Those two health service delivery regions accounted for more than half of all COVID cases detected in late July. By early September, only 81 of 1,202 cases confirmed between Sept. 4 and 17 in the two regions. (The Fraser East region includes Abbotsford, Mission and Chilliwack and communities to the east.)

That’s not to say the rest of the province has been unscathed in recent weeks. Northern communities, in particular, have seen significant numbers of newly detected cases.

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But within Metro Vancouver, case counts have skyrocketed, with more than 1,000 new cases detected over those two weeks.new (Metro Vancouver numbers collected by The News also include the Coast Garibaldi region, whose numbers are lumped in with those of North Vancouver and surrounding communities.)

Infographics may take a moment to load. All figures via BC CDC’s weekly surveillance reports.

HSDA COVID
Infogram

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