By Roy L Hales

While the number of confirmed COVID cases in Vancouver Island and the rest of the province continues to rise, data from the BC Centre for Disease Control shows there have been no new cases reported in North Island – which includes Courtenay, Campbell River,  and the Discovery Islands, as well as communities further north – for at least a week.

screenshot of known active COVID cases on Vancouver Island as of Sept 17, 2020 – BC Centre for Disease Control.

One new case in North Island

There has been only one new case throughout this entire region since September 10th and this would appear to be the only case still classified as “active.”

Screenshot BC Centre for Disease control Geographic Map

Vancouver Island most COVID free part of BC

Vancouver Island continues to be the most COVID free part of the province. There have been 4 new cases in Central Vancouver Island and 5 in the South since September 10th. None of these are hospitalized or in critical care.

There have been a total of 822 new cases in the rest of British Columbia during this same time period. 56 of these are hospitalized and 22 in critical care.

courtesy BC COVID-19 Situational Awareness dashboard

Lowest flu numbers in 9 seasons

In related news, the most recent Respiratory Virus Report shows that, as of September 12th, there are no known cases of influenza in British Columbia. In fact, there have been no positive tests since last April.

According to the most recent FluWatch report, which includes data from the five weeks ending on August 22nd. there have been “exceptionally low levels of influenza activity … across Canada.” There were “no outbreaks” or “influenza-related hospitalizations” and ” … the percentage of tests positive for influenza (0.03%) remained at the lowest level recorded for the past nine seasons.”