COVID-19 infections continue to rise at alarming rates in northwest B.C. as officials struggle to contain rapid transmission and clusters, even during the vaccination stage.
Northern Health's northwest regional corner has tallied 194 cases between March 12 and 18, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC).
This is from the provincial organization's latest data based on Geographic Distribution of COVID-19 by Health Service Delivery Area of Case Residence.
The northern interior, which includes Prince George, recorded 46 cases in the same time period this month, while northeast B.C. saw 68.
With the massive caseload surge in the northwest, the region officially surpasses the northern interior for the most cases recorded from Jan. 1, 2020, to March 18, 2021, with 2,127 since the start of the pandemic.
The northern interior sits at 2,018 cases of the virus; the northeast with 1,195.
As of this publication (March 23), Northern Health has detected 5,576 total test-positive COVID-19 cases since the first was reported on March 14, 2020, which now includes five variant-of-concern infections.
There have been 119 deaths linked to the virus in the region, including five that took place since Friday (March 19).
Currently, there are 363 active cases in northern B.C., 14 people in critical care among 39 total hospitalizations, and 5,083 recoveries.
- with files from Kyle Balzer, PrinceGeorgeMatters
