COVID-19 cases have been declining in B.C., but not everywhere in the province

A screenshot from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control's COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard (BCCDC)

Vancouver -

Coronavirus transmission in B.C. has been declining in recent weeks, but data from the provincial government's COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard shows some regions trending in the opposite direction. 

On Tuesday, the rolling seven-day average for new cases in the province declined to 532, the lowest it's been since Aug. 18.

The largest proportion of the 406 new infections announced Tuesday was found in the Fraser Health region, which has the largest population of any of B.C.'s health authorities and reported the largest number of COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. 

The highest concentration of cases on a per-capita basis, however, has been found in Northern Health, which added more than 30 cases per 100,000 residents on Tuesday, compared to seven per 100,000 in Fraser Health.

Over the last week, from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1, each of these two health authorities has seen the COVID-19 situation improve in most local health areas and worsen in a few.

In Fraser Health, the local health area that includes most of the City of Surrey added more cases than any other region of the province during the week in question, with 337.

That works out to about nine cases per 100,000 residents, which is unchanged from the previous week.

Abbotsford had the highest per-capita rate in the region, with 28 cases per 100,000, also unchanged from the previous week.

The highest per-capita caseload provincewide between Oct. 26 and Nov. 1 was in the Nisga'a local health area in Northern Health, which saw 178 cases per 100,000 residents. That rate is largely a function of the region's small population, however. There were a total of 24 new cases in the Nisga'a local health area during the week in question.

The per-capita rate in Nisga'a actually decreased substantially from the previous week, when there were 215 cases per 100,000.

The areas in Northern Health that saw increases in their case rates were Peace River North, which went from 36 to 39 cases per 100,000 residents; Upper Skeena, which went from 28 to 35; Kitimat, when went from 12 to 19; and Haida Gwaii, which went from zero to three cases per 100,000 residents.

In Fraser Health, case rates increased in the Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows and Agassiz/Harrison local health areas, rising from 14 to 21 and nine to 18 cases per 100,000, respectively.

B.C. largest increases in per-capita caseloads during the week of Oct. 26 to Nov. 1 came outside the Fraser and Northern health authorities.

The Central Coast local health area in Vancouver Coastal Health went from zero to 78 cases per 100,000 residents, and Island Health's Vancouver Island West local health area went from 14 to 115 cases per 100,000 over the course of the week.

Notably, both regions have fewer than 100,000 residents, and the raw numbers of infections in each area were relatively small portions of B.C.'s overall caseload. Central Coast recorded a total of nine cases during the week in question, and Vancouver Island West added 17.

Detailed data on COVID-19 cases and vaccination rates can be found on the B.C. Centre for Disease Control's COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard.