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COVID-19 test positivity, case counts dropping in New Westminster

Three weeks ago, test positivity had hit 46%. This past week, it was down to 28% – but it's still impossible to know how many people actually have COVID
Julie MacLellan
Julie MacLellan
BCCDC positivity Feb 8 to 14
This B.C. Centre for Disease Control map shows test positivity around the Lower Mainland between Feb. 8 and 14. The bright red areas (including New Westminster) show positivity of greater than 20%; the lighter areas indicate where positivity has now dropped to between 10 and 20%.BCCDC (screenshot)

Is the worst of the Omicron wave finally behind us?

New local data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control suggests that may well be the case in New Westminster – and more broadly throughout the Lower Mainland.

COVID-19 test positivity has dropped to 28% in New Westminster, continuing a downward trend from 46% three weeks ago, to 41% a week later, to 37% last week.

Several areas of the Lower Mainland are now showing test positivity lower than 20%, including Southeast Coquitlam, South Langley, Tsawwassen and Vancouver's West End, Downtown Eastside and West Point Grey.

Test positivity still remains significantly higher than at previous points in the pandemic, before the Omicron wave. As late as December, test positivity in New Westminster remained in the single digits.

New Westminster's official case count is also continuing to drop, with the data showing 63 new cases between Feb. 8 and 14, for a daily rate of 11 per 100,000 people.

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. 

What may provide a glimmer of hope, however, is the trend line; this is the lowest number of cases since B.C. started significantly restricting access for testing. The past five weeks have seen a declining trend in New Westminster – 303, 206, 214, 155 and 106 – 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].