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COVID-19 cases on the North Shore are continuing in a stable holding pattern, according to information from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
The situation has remained relatively unchanged in recent weeks, despite the easing of previous COVID restrictions, and the more transmissible BA.2 variant of Omicron making up the majority of infections in B.C., including in Vancouver Coastal Health.
There were 70 new cases of COVID on the North Shore, as measured by official PCR testing, for the week of April 24-30, according to B.C.'s Centre for Disease Control. That included 60 new cases in North Vancouver and 10 cases in West Vancouver, and was down slightly from the 87 new coronavirus cases reported a week ago.
Although PCR testing is done for only a small number of people, who are likely to be at particular risk of serious illness from the virus, it is considered an indicator of more general trends.
Official case rates are sitting at three daily cases per 100,000 people in both North Vancouver and West Vancouver.
Hospitalizations down in VCH
In Vancouver Coastal Health overall – which also includes hospitals in Vancouver, Richmond, the Sunshine Coast and Sea-to-Sky Corridor – there were 128 people in hospital with COVID as of May 5, down from 155 the week before. Eight of those people were in critical care.
Most of the recent hospitalizations and deaths have been among people over 80 years old, according to B.C. Centre for Disease Control statistics.
The most recent reporting of wastewater data showing COVID-19 concentrations at the Lions Gate sewage treatment plant have been decreasing.
Viral loads show 'decreasing trend' at North Vancouver sewage plant
Viral loads show a “decreasing trend” at the Lions Gate treatment plant but are still variable, according to BC’s Centre for Disease Control.
Viral loads have been stable or declining at several treatment plants around the Lower Mainland for the first time in six weeks, according to BC CDC.
No samples were collected at the North Shore plant in the past week, however.
The most recent samples included concentrations were April 27 57,813 viral parts per litre on April 27 and 17,891 viral parts per litre on April 25.
Measurements in recent months have often hovered between 29,000 and 69,000 parts per litre.
But that's still significantly lower than the peak of 333,000 parts per litre in the first week of January.
Vax rates stalled
Vaccination rates among both adults and children on the North Shore haven’t budged much for months.
Between 92 and 95 per cent of adults on the North Shore have had two doses of vaccine, and between 66 and 71 per cent have received a booster shot – higher than the provincial average.
Between 55 and 66 per cent of children five to 11 on the North Shore have also received two doses of COVID vaccine.
The ICBC site vaccine clinic remains open for children aged five to 11, while adults are now being directed to get their shots at local pharmacies.
The BA.2 variant of Omicron now makes up almost all cases of the virus in the province, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
