There have been another 135 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the Tri-Cities health delivery area in the past week, according to new surveillance data released by the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control.
That brings the total case load for the Fraser North quadrant of Fraser Health — an area which also includes Burnaby, New Westminster and Maple Ridge — to 1,025 since January.
Active cases for Fraser North have reached 223 over the past two weeks, putting the current infection rate at its highest point ever, and beyond the 15 cases per 100,000 threshold where the surveillance report’s legend maxes out.
Just how those numbers break down by municipality is not clear, as the province only began providing historic data on COVID-19 cases at the end of August. From January to the end of July, 178 cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Tri-Cities.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and her colleagues at the BCCDC say they will provide updated case counts at the level of the Tri-Cities on a monthly basis, with the next update expected sometime at the end of September.
New cases across the province have surged in the last week, rising to 789 new cases from 669 during the previous week. That comes as testing continues to ramp up.
The median age of those infected with COVID-19 also continues to decrease, though all age groups saw an increase in cases this week, with the exception of those over 80-years-old.
So while cases of COVID-19 in the province have reached levels not seen since the pandemic started, hospitalization rates — largely made up of older British Columbians — remain relatively low when compared to their high in March.
On Thursday, Sept. 10, the province recorded its largest single-day total of 139 cases. That brings the active case count across the province to a record 1,412.
