B.C.’s COVID-19 case rise is coming largely from one part of the province

Over the past two weeks, it’s not just that the vast majority of new COVID-19 cases have been in the Lower Mainland, a much higher proportion of Lower Mainland residents are testing positive versus the Interior Health Region.

From Aug. 21 to Sept. 3 there were 1,126 new cases in B.C. with 33, or three per cent, being recorded in the Interior.

Since the pandemic began in January there have been 6,041 cases recorded in the province with about 7.5 per cent (450) being in the Interior Health Region, which makes up about 16 per cent of the provincial population.

But sheer numbers only tell part of the story.

A map of cases per Health Service Delivery Area that is updated by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control shows the number of cases per 100,000 population.

For the Interior Health region, it shows 19 cases per 100,000 in the Okanagan with lower rates in other regions: 10 per 100,000 in the Thompson-Cariboo-Shuswap, two per 100,000 in Kootenay-Boundary and no cases in the East Kootenay.

The picture is much different in the Lower Mainland where Fraser South led the way with 320 cases per 100,000 and Vancouver had 307. Richmond had the lowest case count per 100,000 in the Lower Mainland at 32.

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