The Tri-Cities registered 127 new COVID-19 cases in the month of August, nearly doubling the region’s historical caseload in a single month.
The one-month massive uptick represents over 42% of all cases since the pandemic began, according to recent historical data released by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
From the start of the pandemic until the end of July, the three cities registered 178 cases of COVID-19. But August’s 126 new cases mean the Tri-Cities had recorded a total of 305 cases by the end of last month. That’s in a population of roughly 234,000, according to the 2016 census.
Similar August spikes in cases were seen across the Lower Mainland.
Nearby Burnaby reported 157 new cases in August, while New Westminster had 41.
Surrey’s caseload jumped by another 484 cases of COVID-19 in a near doubling of the January to July total.
And while September’s COVID-19 cases are not yet broken down by municipality, cases have continued to climb across the Lower Mainland.
Over the weekend, caseloads averaged 122 per day across British Columbia, bringing the active caseload to 1,987 by Monday.
A further 96 cases were revealed Tuesday, Sept. 22.