Chilliwack remains one of B.C.’s COVID hot-spots according to the latest numbers released by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC).
The health organization releases a weekly map showing where COVID case counts are the highest. For the seven-day period covering Jan. 3-9, Chilliwack had 140 cases. That number by itself isn’t large, but matched against the city’s population (83,790 in the official 2016 census, in the low to mid 90,000s now), it’s one of the province’s highest case counts per 100,000 people.
It works out to 15.1-20.0 cases per 100,000 population, placing Chilliwack in the second worst category on the BCCDC map.
As a comparison, Langley recorded 109 cases, the Tri-Cities had 114 and Richmond had 133, putting those three municipalities in a lower category (10.1-15.0) than Chilliwack.
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That said, Chilliwack’s situation has improved slightly week-over-week since the last report, which covered the period of Dec. 27 to Jan. 2.
Chilliwack had 156 cases over those seven days, and was in the ‘20-plus cases per 100,000 people’ club.
Abbotsford is in that dubious group right now. Our neighbours up the road are ranked among the worst of the worst where COVID transmission is concerned with 263 cases, or more than 20 per 100,000 people.
In terms of sheer volume though, Surrey is the runaway leader. The latest report has that LHA (Local Health Area) recording 925 cases, 662 more second place Abbotsford.
The BCCDC also has a cumulative map that shows COVID case totals for the entirety of 2020.
Chilliwack recorded 1,185 cases over that time frame. Abbotsford had 3,377 and Surrey had an eye-popping 16,109.
Weekly local health area numbers are released each Wednesday, and case numbers for Jan. 10 to 17 are set to be released Jan. 20.
@ProgressSports
eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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