VANCOUVER -- The newest map of COVID-19 case data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control shows continued hotspots in Surrey and on the North Coast, as well as an apparent resurgence of the coronavirus in the region that includes Whistler.
The map shows the number of cases recorded in each of B.C.'s "local health areas" during the week of March 14 to 20. It also shows the approximate number of cases per 100,000 residents in each area.
On the latest map, the Howe Sound local health area is once again shaded dark red, indicating that more than 20 cases per 100,000 residents were recorded, on average, each day during the week in question.
The Howe Sound local health area includes Squamish and the resort municipality of Whistler, where health officials reported an alarming increase in COVID-19 transmission back in January.
After several weeks in which Howe Sound saw relatively few new cases of the disease confirmed, the region recorded 122 new infections during the week that ended on March 20.
That's slightly more cases than Prince Rupert recorded during the week in question. The hard-hit city on B.C.'s North Coast saw 113 new infections during the week, equivalent to more than 20 cases per 100,000 residents.
The week that ended March 20 also saw the province open up vaccine appointments to all adult Prince Rupert residents in an effort to stop the spread of the virus there.
As of Wednesday, roughly 85 per cent of people ages 18 and up in the city had been vaccinated, according to Premier John Horgan.
The latest map also shows high numbers of per-capita COVID-19 cases in Peace River South, the Bella Coola Valley and in parts of the North Coast outside of Prince Rupert.
That said, the local health area with the highest number of coronavirus cases in B.C. - by a wide margin - remains the one that includes most of the City of Surrey.
The region recorded 946 cases of COVID-19 during the week shown on the map, a slight increase from the 925 it recorded the week before.
No other local health area in the province recorded even one-fourth the number of total cases that Surrey did during the week in question, though it's worth noting that the City of Vancouver saw a total of 618 new cases across its six local health areas.
Elsewhere in Metro Vancouver, the Delta and South Surrey/White Rock local health areas are the only ones other than Surrey itself to record more than 15 cases per 100,000 residents during the week shown on the map.
Everywhere else in the region saw 10 to 15 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents, or fewer.
