Active COVID-19 cases in Delta up more than 50% last week

Active COVID-19 cases in Delta went up by more than 50 per cent last week.

The latest weekly map released by the BC Centre for Disease Control showing the geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases by local health area (LHA) of residence shows Delta had 65 cases for the week of Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, 22 more than the week before.

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The overall number of active cases in the Fraser Health region also went up by 75 last week, — 1,866 compared to 1,791 the week before, about a quarter the jump in cases the week before.

Overall case numbers in the region have been rising for 11 of the past 13 weeks after nearly three months of falling COVID numbers. As well, last week was the seventh week in a row of 1,000+ cases. Before that, cases hadn’t topped 1,000 since the week ending May 29.

Eight of the 13 local health areas (LHAs) in the region saw increases from the previous week, notably in Langley (220, up 21 from the week before), Abbotsford (268, up 40) and Chilliwack (277, up 32).

THE LATEST: Another 624 COVID-19 cases in B.C. Thursday, 4 deaths (Oct. 7, 2021)

Data shared on the BC CDC’s COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard Tuesday shows Delta had an overall daily average of seven new cases per 100,000 people for the week of Oct. 4, unchanged from the week before.

Broken down by community health service areas (CHSAs), that’s a rate of five cases per 100,000 people in North Delta (down from eight the week before), nine in Ladner (unchanged) and nine in Tsawwassen (up from four the week before). The CHSA of Tsawwassen is comprised of both the Delta community and the Tsawwassen First Nation.

Delta’s total case count over that time frame represented one per cent of cases in B.C. that week, unchanged from the week before. Delta is home to two per cent of the province’s population.

The overall test positivity rate in Delta for the week Oct. 4 was three per cent, unchanged from the week before, but the rates varied somewhat between Delta’s three CHSAs.

North Delta had a rate of two per cent, down from three per cent from the week prior. Ladner’s rate was three per cent, unchanged from the week before, while Tsawwassen’s rate was three per cent, up from two the week before.

Positivity rates were a bit higher when looking only at public tests — three per cent for Delta as a whole (down from four), three per cent for North Delta (down from four), four per cent for Ladner (unchanged) and four per cent for Tsawwassen (up from three).

The dashboard also shows breakdowns of vaccine coverage across the CHSAs by age (12+, 12-17, 18+, 18-49 and 50+) and by whether people have received their first or second dose.

As of Oct. 4, Delta continued to lead all other LHAs in Fraser Health with 93 per cent of adults aged 12 and over having received at least their first does of vaccine, unchanged from the week before. As well, 88 per cent of residents 12 and over have received their second dose as well, up one per cent from the week before.

Broken down by CHSA, that’s 93 per cent first dose coverage in North Delta (unchanged from the week before), 94 per cent in Ladner (unchanged), and 92 per cent in Tsawwassen (unchanged). In terms of second dose rates, that’s 87 per cent in North Delta (unchanged), 89 per cent in Ladner (up one per cent) and 88 per cent in Tsawwassen (up one per cent).

Limited to adults 18 and over, first dose rates were 93 per cent for Delta as a whole (unchanged from the week before), 94 for North Delta (up one per cent), 94 for Ladner (unchanged) and 92 for Tsawwassen (unchanged). Second dose rates were 88 per cent for Delta as a whole (up one per cent), 87 for North Delta (up one per cent), 90 for Ladner (up one per cent) and 88 for Tsawwassen (unchanged).

The dashboard also includes vaccine coverage for kids aged 12-17. First dose rates for that age range as of Oct. 4 were 91 per cent for Delta as a whole (up one per cent), 90 for North Delta (up one per cent), 93 for Ladner (up one per cent) and 91 for Tsawwassen (up one per cent). Second dose rates were 83 per cent for Delta as a whole (up two per cent), 81 for North Delta (up two per cent), 86 for Ladner (up two per cent) and 84 for Tsawwassen (up two per cent).

First dose rates were nearly the same for those 18-49 and those 50 and over, though second dose rates were markedly different between the two groups.

For adults 50 and over, first dose coverage in Delta was 94 per cent (unchanged from the week previous). Broken down by CHSA, that’s 93 per cent in North Delta (unchanged), 95 in Ladner (up one per cent) and 94 in Tsawwassen (unchanged). Second dose rates were 91 per cent for Delta as a whole (unchanged), 90 for North Delta (unchanged), 92 for Ladner (unchanged) and 92 for Tsawwassen (up one per cent).

For those aged 18-49, first dose coverage was 93 per cent for Delta overall (up one per cent), 94 for North Delta (up one per cent), 93 for Ladner (unchanged) and 90 for Tsawwassen (up one per cent). Second dose rates were lower — 85 per cent for Delta as a whole (up two per cent), 85 for North Delta (up two per cent), 86 for Ladner (up one per cent) and 83 for Tsawwassen (up one per cent).

After Delta, the Fraser Health LHA with the highest first dose vaccine coverage for adults aged 12 and over was Surrey with 92 per cent (unchanged from the week before). The next highest were Burnaby and New Westminster with 91, (both unchanged), followed by Tri-Cities (90, up one per cent) and South Surrey/White Rock (89, up one per cent).

SEE ALSO: B.C. to offer 3rd COVID shot to 100K more immunocompromised people (Oct. 5, 2021)

SEE ALSO: B.C. requires long-term care staff, visitor vaccination by Oct. 12 (Oct. 5, 2021)

On Oct. 6, the BC CDC posted an updated map showing total cumulative cases by local health area through to the end of September. The map shows there were a total of 5,349 COVID-19 cases in Delta through to Sept. 30, meaning there were 193 new cases last month, compared to 223 in August, 26 in July, 92 in June, 488 in May, 990 in April and 614 in March.

The map also shows there were 1,357 new cases in Surrey in September, compared to 980 in August, 189 in July, 529 in June, 4,012 in May, 7,043 in April and 4,406 in March.

For the Fraser Health region as a whole, there were 6,792 new cases of COVID-19 in September, compared to 4,478 in August, 771 in July, 1,636 in June, 8,913 in May, 17,086 in April and 10,554 in March. Vancouver Coastal Health, meanwhile, had 2,696 new cases in September, compared to 2,787 in August, 424 in July, compared to 563 in June, 2,833 in May, 7,497 in April and 5,726 in March.

As of Thursday morning (Oct. 7), there was one outbreak at a Delta long-term care, assisted living or independent living facility.

On Oct. 1, Fraser Health declared an outbreak at Good Samaritan Delta View Care Centre in East Delta after one resident and one staff member tested positive for COVID-19.

READ MORE: COVID-19 outbreak declared at East Delta long-term care facility (Oct. 1, 2021)

SEE ALSO: B.C. senior home staff still struggling in COVID-19 ‘marathon’ (Oct. 6, 2021)

Meanwhile, there were no public exposure notifications in the city, and no Delta businesses had been temporarily closed due to COVID-19 spread among workers.

As of Thursday, Fraser Health’s website listed exposures at three Delta schools: Delta Secondary (Sept. 21, 22, 27, 28 and 29), Holly Elementary (Sept. 27, 28 and 29) and Delta Christian School (Sept. 21, 22, 23, 24, 27 and 28).

Fraser Health defines exposure as “a single person with lab-confirmed COVID-19 infection who attended school during their infectious period.” Two or more individuals is defined as a cluster, while an outbreak describes a situation involving “multiple individuals with lab-confirmed COVID-19 infections when transmission is likely widespread within the school setting.”

SEE ALSO: Masks mandatory for all K-12 students in B.C. schools as of today (Oct. 4, 2021)

editor@northdeltareporter.com
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Active COVID-19 cases in Delta up more than 50% last week

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