Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Two days into BC’s new restart plan, the BC Centre for Disease control has released a new chart which shows that the daily rate of infection rate throughout most of Vancouver Island is less than 1 per 100,000 during the week ending on Monday, May 24th.
The only places with a greater than 1 per 100,000 rate of infection are: Greater Nanaimo and the Comox Valley, where the rate is 3, and Langford/Highlands were it is 2.
There were 15 active cases in the Comox Valley during the week ending on Monday, as opposed to 18 the previous week.
This is the only Local Health Area in Northern Vancouver Island currently listed on Island Health’s school exposure. There is a cluster in Highland Secondary school in Comox, and potential exposures listed on eleven days between May 3rd and 17th.
The trend, everywhere on Vancouver Island except Greater Nanaimo and the Saanich Peninsula, is that numbers are now falling.
For the first time in months, the number of active cases on Vancouver Island has been under 100 so far this week.
Half of Vancouver island, especially in the North and West, appeared to be COVID free during the week ending Monday, May 24th.
The daily infection rate was less than 1 per 100,000 in Greater Campbell River, where the number of active cases dropped to 2 during this period, from four the week before.
Both Vancouver Island North and West appear to be clear of COVID 19.
In Greater Victoria, the numbers have fallen from 16 to 11 and the daily infection rate 1 per 100,000
We are now in phase one of of the restart plan.
Personal gatherings of up to 5 people, or another household, are now permitted indoors.
Up to ten people can meet outdoors and, if they have a COVID Safety plan, there can be more organized meetings of up to 50.
Recreational travel is permitted throughout Vancouver Island, but only essential traffic can cross to the Mainland.
If the number of case counts and hospitalizations continues to fall, BC will move to phase two of the restart plan once the 65% receives its first vaccination. Province wide travel will be permitted and outdoor personal gathers of up to 50 people. This is expected to take place in June, the earliest possible date being the15th.
Assuming that everything goes well, we could be back to something resembling a pre-COVID normal by September.
