COVID-19’s Thanksgiving incubation period caught up in northern B.C., proving the surge in cases is not just happening in the lower mainland.
The BC Centre for Disease Control’s (BCCDC) latest Health Service Delivery Area report, which calculates the number of infections in each region from the previous two weeks, says Northern Health totalled 67 positive tests for the virus between Oct. 23 and Nov. 5.
This included 35 in the northern interior, which consists of Prince George and its surrounding communities, which matched the authority’s entire total from the two weeks prior to yesterday’s update and an overall increase of 32.
The BC Centre for Disease Control's Health Service Delivery Area map, Oct. 23 to Nov. 5. (via BCCDC)The northwest was quieter since Oct. 23 with just nine COVID-19 cases.
There was a 10-case increase in the northeast with 23 in the last 14 days.
Those 67 regional infections nearly match what was recorded in the middle of September, 71 between Sept. 11 and 24, which rounded out the Labour Day weekend testing and subsequent two-week incubation period.
The BCCDC, as of this publication (Nov. 6), has yet to release the total number of October infections by local health area.
If the provincial service remains consistent, it could make that data public by Nov. 12 or 13.
On Thursday (Nov. 5), Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry emphasized that an increase in cases was expected when people moved indoors due to the seasons changing to colder weather, but that our choices will make a big difference.
"And while I would like to note that some recommendations have changed, the foundational layers of protection and the minimal but important province-wide orders that we have in place are our steady guideposts," she noted, a week after making it an expectation of the public to wear face-coverings in public spaces.
"Let's remember that as the days get darker there will be lightness ahead. We will get through this winter. We will get through the challenges of COVID-19."
Since the pandemic reached the north in March, it’s recorded 438 COVID-19 cases, including six new ones between Wednesday (Nov. 4) and Thursday, and includes seven active cases, three deaths, one person in critical care and 406 recoveries.
Ron Brent Elementary School was confirmed for virus exposure this week, making it the third Prince George institution, second in SD57, to be flagged for COVID-19.
Ten other schools are listed:
- Roosevelt Park Elementary School (SD52) - Oct. 21-22, 2020
- Immaculate Conception School (Independent, Diocese of Prince George) - Oct. 21-23, 2020
- Fort Nelson Secondary School (SD81) - Oct. 15-16, 2020
- Notre Dame School (Private) - Oct. 13-14, 2020
- Prince George Secondary School (SD57) - Oct. 2, 2020
- Dawson Creek Secondary School - South Peace Campus (SD59) - Sept. 23-25, 2020
- David Hoy Elementary School (SD91) - Sept. 17-18, 2020
- Quesnel Junior Secondary School (SD28) - Sept. 10-11, 15-18, 2020
- Nak’albun Elementary School (Independent) - Sept. 16-18, 2020
- Ecole Frank Ross Elementary School (SD59) - Sept. 10-11, 2020
- with files from Elana Shepert, Vancouver Is Awesome
