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The number of new COVID cases continues to drop on the North Shore as vaccination rates remain among the highest in the province.
The number of cases has fallen by about half for two weeks in a row in North Vancouver and West Vancouver.
There were 12 new cases of the virus reported for the North Shore for the week ending June 19, compared to 21 cases reported the week previously.
That’s happened as vaccination rates in North Vancouver remain among the highest in the province.
Of the new COVID cases reported this week, nine are in North Vancouver and three are in West Vancouver.
Similar declines in case counts have been seen in communities throughout most of the Lower Mainland, with infections in areas like Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, Vancouver and the Tri-Cities falling by over 50 per cent in some areas. The South Surrey White Rock area reported no cases at all for the week ending June 19.
The BC Centre for Disease Control now provides more detailed information about where cases have been occurring, as well as information on vaccination rates.
Rates of infection falling
On the North Shore, that data (which tracked cases from June 15 to 21) showed daily rates of infection have dropped further in most areas in the past week, with eastern parts of North Vancouver showing zero daily cases per 100,000 in the past week. Most areas of the North Shore had a case rate of between one and two daily cases per 100,000. Infection rates on Bowen Island and in Lions Bay fell to three daily cases per 100,000, from five the week before.
Among those tested for COVID-19 on the North Shore, positivity rates ranged from zero to two per cent.
North Van among top 5 vaccination rates
The District of North Vancouver has one of the top five overall vaccination rates in the province, with 86 per cent of those 12 and over having received one dose. Vaccinations rates for those over 18 are between 79 and 87 per cent on the North Shore, with rates among people 50 and over in the District of North Vancouver and on Bowen Island at over 90 per cent.
The upper part of West Vancouver, including the British Properties and Caulfeild, continues to have the lowest vaccination rate on the North Shore, but even that is still relatively high at 77 per cent for people 12 and over.
According to B.C.’s Centre for Disease Control, COVID variants of concern now make up about 90 per cent of cases in the province, and 88 per cent of cases in Vancouver Coastal Health.
Overall case counts in the province continue to drop with 87 new cases reported on Wednesday, 13 of those in Vancouver Coastal Health. Numbers of patients in hospital with COVID-19 are also continuing to fall. There were 109 people in hospital with COVID on Wednesday, 41 of those in critical care.
