VANCOUVER -- The Lower Mainland has been a hub of COVID-19 transmission since the start of the pandemic, but the latest map of coronavirus cases from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control shows infections spiking significantly.
Six local health areas in Metro Vancouver recorded more than 20 cases per 100,000 residents per day during the week of March 21 to 27, according to the most recent map.
Most other local health areas in the region recorded between 15 and 20 cases per 100,000 residents, the second-highest case density shown on the map.
Among Metro Vancouver local health areas, only Burnaby, New Westminster and Richmond recorded a lower number of cases per capita during the week in question, and those regions still saw at least 10 cases per 100,000 residents per day.
In terms of overall infections, the local health area that includes most of the City of Surrey led the way, as it always has. Surrey saw 1,153 new cases during the week that ended March 27, according to the map.
The South Surrey/White Rock local health area - which has, in the past, often had a lower number of per-capita cases than the rest of Surrey - recorded 202 new infections during the week shown on the map, a total that puts it on par with the rest of Surrey on a per-capita basis.
The other regions of Metro Vancouver that saw 20 or more cases per 100,000 residents during the week in question were Delta (177 total cases), West Vancouver (98) and two of the six local health areas within the City of Vancouver - the ones covering Downtown and False Creek (249 total cases) and the city's West Side, plus UBC (252).
Adding the six local health areas together, the City of Vancouver saw 1,012 new cases of COVID-19 during the week of March 21 to 27.
Outside Metro Vancouver, a few other hot spots remain. Among them is the Howe Sound local health area, which recorded 247 new coronavirus cases during the week shown on the map.
That total includes 218 cases detected in Whistler, which is part of the Howe Sound local health area. The vast majority of cases in Whistler have been found in people between the ages of 20 and 39, according to health officials.
Elsewhere, there were two local health areas in the Interior with more than 20 cases per 100,000 residents last week. Those areas are Merritt, which say 22 cases in total, and Revelstoke, which saw 18.
In B.C.'s north, 92 people in the Peace River South region tested positive between March 21 and 27, as did 80 in Prince Rupert, 17 in Upper Skeena and seven in the Nisga'a local health area.
Each of those totals equates to more than 20 cases per 100,000 residents per day in the region in question.
The full-sized version of the latest map can be found on the BCCDC website.
