Only 2 regions of B.C. had COVID-19 test positivity rates of 10% or lower last week
With B.C.'s COVID-19 testing system at capacity due to the Omicron variant, the province has prioritized tests for those most in need of them, sending test positivity rates skyrocketing.
According to data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control's COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard, there were only two local health areas in the province where test positivity was 10 per cent or lower between Jan. 4 and 10.
Indeed, only a handful of regions saw less than 20 per cent positivity during the seven-day period.
The lowest rate for the week belonged to Interior Health's Kettle Valley region, where just five per cent of publicly funded tests came back positive. The only other region where fewer than 11 per cent of tests were positive was Kootenay Lake, which saw a 10 per cent positivity rate, according to the BCCDC.
Notably, Kettle Valley and Kootenay Lake are among the least populous local health areas in all of B.C. They are the eighth and ninth smallest of the province's 89 local health areas, according to 2021 provincial population estimates, with roughly 3,600 residents each.
Small populations alone can't account for their relatively lower rates of COVID-19 transmission, however. The three smallest local health areas in the province - Snow Country, Stikine and Telegraph Creek, which are grouped together on the BCCDC map because of their low populations - had a positivity rate of 28 per cent during the week in question.
That total is much more in line with the test positivity rate seen province-wide during the seven days shown on the map. From Jan. 4 to 10, B.C.'s rolling seven-day average for test positivity ranged from 23.1 per cent to 24.1 per cent, according to BCCDC data.
Of course, many regions of the province saw much higher test positivity rates over the week.
Forty-five per cent of tests in the local health area that encompasses the City of Richmond came back positive during the period, as did 45 per cent of tests in the Vancouver - Northeast local health area.
In the area that includes most of the City of Surrey, 43 per cent of tests were positive. Rates also topped 40 per cent in two of the other local five health areas that make up the City of Vancouver, as well as in the Tri-Cities and Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows local health areas.
In the Interior, positivity was 48 per cent in the Revelstoke local health area, 44 per cent in Fernie and 43 per cent in Summerland and Nelson.
Northern Health saw its highest rates in Kitimat, where 51 per cent of tests came back positive, and Smithers (49 per cent).
On Vancouver Island, the Vancouver Island North local health area led the way, with 46 per cent positivity. Greater Victoria and the neighbouring Western Communities local health area also topped 40 per cent, at 44 and 42 per cent, respectively.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Israel gave U.S. last-minute warning about drone attack on Iran, Italian foreign minister says at G7
The United States told the Group of Seven foreign ministers on Friday that it received 'last minute' information from Israel about a drone action in Iran, but didn't participate in the apparent attack, officials said.
After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
'It was all my savings': Ontario woman loses $15K to fake Walmart job scam
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
Families to receive Canada Child Benefit payment on Friday
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
After COVID, WHO defines disease spread 'through air'
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
DEVELOPING G7 warns of new sanctions against Iran as world reacts to apparent Israeli drone attack
Group of Seven foreign ministers warned of new sanctions against Iran on Friday for its drone and missile attack on Israel, and urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
BREAKING Iran fires at apparent Israeli attack drones near Isfahan air base and nuclear site
An apparent Israeli drone attack on Iran saw troops fire air defences at a major air base and a nuclear site early Friday morning near the central city of Isfahan, an assault coming in retaliation for Tehran's unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country.
Ottawa to force banks to call carbon rebate a carbon rebate in direct deposits
Canadian banks that refuse to identify the carbon rebate by name when doing direct deposits are forcing the government to change the law to make them do it, says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.