There were 54 new cases in the North Shore Coast Garibaldi health area in the past week, bringing the total to 840 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, according to B.C.’s Centre for Disease Control.
The North Shore health service area has had 107 cases in the past two weeks – a number that has remained relatively consistent over the past few weeks.
The latest COVID-19 statistics were released on the same day as B.C. recorded its highest daily case count of 274 cases.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s medical health officer, said most of the new cases are in younger adults and have not resulted in a large increase in hospitalizations or in intensive care admissions.
Most of the new cases have been in the Fraser Health area and have stemmed from large social gatherings, including weddings and funerals, she said. She warned if people don’t heed warnings to dial down their social interactions, more restrictions on gatherings would be put in place.
But the situation in Vancouver Coastal Health is different.
Speaking later Thursday afternoon, Dr. Patricia Daly, chief medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal Health, told CBC Radio that daily case counts in VCH are actually leveling off.
Of the 274 new daily cases announced Thursday, only 45 were in VCH, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control.
Daly said there have also been fewer large social gatherings connected to local cases. She added a number of recent local cases have been connected to a local club – Hollyburn Country Club in West Vancouver – that was ordered to close for two weeks.
The key message is that COVID-19 is still most likely to be spread indoors and when people gather with others who are not part of their households or close social circle, she said.
Daily added that weekly trends give a clearer picture of the pandemic than daily case counts, because increased testing has meant that both more cases and milder cases of COVID-19 are being reported.
