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COVID cases still falling on North Shore

85 new cases reported this week, compared to 94 last week in North Van, West Van
Jane Seyd
Jane Seyd

Cases of COVID-19 are still falling on the North Shore.

The number of new infections dropped this week for the fourth straight week in a row.

There were 85 new COVID infections in the week ending May 15, according to BC’s Centre for Disease Control, down slightly from 94 reported last week, and 160 reported May 1.

The number of cases this week is less than a third of the new cases reported at the peak of the “third wave” on the North Shore in the middle of April.

Of the cases reported in the week ending May 15, 64 are in North Vancouver and 21 are in West Vancouver.

The number of new COVID infections is also continuing to fall slowly in most areas of the Lower Mainland, with numbers falling in most Fraser Health hot spots, including Surrey and Abbotsford.

Last week, the BC Centre for Disease Control provided more detailed information about where cases have been occurring for the first time, as well as information on vaccination rates.

That data (which tracked cases from May 4 to 10) showed the lowest daily rates of infection in the eastern half of the District of North Vancouver at 2.3 per 100,000 as well as in the Ambleside area of West Vancouver at 3.4 per 100,000. The western and upper part of West Vancouver – including Dundarave, Caulfeild and the British Properties  – had the highest daily infection rates on the North Shore, at 12.7 per 100,000. The rate in the City of North Vancouver was between eight and nine daily cases per 100,000. Bowen Island and Lions Bay had a daily infection rate of 7.8 per 100,000.

Bowen Island residents also had the highest positivity rate of those tested for COVID, at 9.8 per cent. The eastern and central parts of the District of North Vancouver and the lower section of West Vancouver had the lowest positivity rates, at between one and two per cent.

A map of vaccination coverage showed rates on the North Shore are comparable to other communities in the Lower Mainland with more than 80 per cent of adults over 55 having received one dose of vaccine in all North Shore communities. In parts of the District of North Vancouver, more than 87 per cent of older adults have got at least one shot. Rates drop to between 41 and 61 per cent when younger adults, including all those over 18, are included. Most younger people have only recently been eligible to receive a shot.

The Centre for Disease Control has not yet released updated data for the past week.