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Omicron isn't over yet: Case counts, positivity creep back up in New Westminster

Test positivity was 15% this week, breaking a six-week downward slide.
Julie MacLellan
Julie MacLellan
BCCDC positivity March 1 to 7 WEB
COVID-19 test positivity rates around Metro Vancouver are improving, as seen in this BCCDC map. The yellow regions are where test positivity now sits at 10% or lower. New Westminster, however, saw a slight increase in positivity over last week.BCCDC (screenshot)

After several weeks on the downward slide, COVID-19 test positivity and case numbers both took a turn for the worse in New Westminster this past week.

The latest data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (for the week of March 1 to 7) shows test positivity at 15% in New Westminster. 

That's up from 13% last week – breaking a six-week downward trend that had seen rates fall from 46% to 41% to 37% to 28% to 19% to 13% last week.

The general picture around the Lower Mainland, however, continues to improve.

While a few areas of Metro Vancouver continue to reflect sky-high positivity rates – such as UBC at 35%, East and West Cambie/Bridgeport at 41%, and West Van (upper) at 29% – many more are now dropping into the range of 10% positivity or below (the yellow areas reflected on the map above).

New Westminster's official case count also ticked up slightly over last week, with the data showing 28 cases between March 1 and 7, for a daily rate of 5 per 100,000. That's up from last week's 21 cases and daily case rate of 4 per 100K.

That number is not reflective of the actual number of COVID-19 cases in the city, since the vast majority of people are no longer eligible for testing. 

The trend line, however, has been on a downward trend for the past two months. Last week marked a new low count for New Westminster since B.C. started significantly restricting access for testing. The past eight weeks have seen a declining trend in New Westminster – 303, 206, 214, 155, 106, 63, 36, 21 – among the narrow band of people who are, in fact, eligible for COVID tests.

Who qualifies for COVID-19 testing in B.C.?

Testing is recommended for people who have symptoms associated with COVID-19 infection and meet one of the following criteria:

  • people for whom testing is clinically indicated (people who are pregnant, hospitalized or moderately to severely immunocompromised);
  • people 60 years of age and older who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated;
  • people less than 60 years of age who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated and are clinically extremely vulnerable;
  • individuals who self-identify as Indigenous; 
  • individuals who live or work in high-risk settings.

More details and links for test booking can be found at the Fraser Health website.

Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
Email Julie, [email protected].