Skip to content

COVID-19 cases in North Van, West Van jumped to 356 in August

Social gatherings account for recent increases, says Dr. Bonnie Henry
detailed covid map Sept24

The number of COVID-19 cases on the North Shore rose from 249 to 356 during the month of August, an almost 43 per cent increase.

North Vancouver continued to account for the most cases, which included 274 cases by Aug. 31, compared to 205 cases a month earlier.

In West Vancouver, the total number of cases reported from the beginning of the pandemic grew to 82 by Aug. 31, an increase from 44 reported at the end of July.

More detailed breakdowns of the case counts in local communities are released once a month by B.C.’s Centre for Disease Control, which report on the case counts as they stood several weeks prior.

Statistics showed similar patterns on the North Shore in other areas of the Lower Mainland, with the number of cases almost doubling in many communities – including Surrey, Vancouver, Burnaby and Maple Ridge during the month of August.

Statistics for other parts of the North Shore Coast Garibaldi region showed those communities accounted for a smaller number of cases. Those included Howe Sound (including Whistler and Squamish) with a total of 36 cases to the end of August. The lower Sunshine Coast had reported 14 cases while Powell River had reported one.

The Centre for Disease Control reported 126 new cases of COVID-19 in the Coast Garibaldi Health region in the two weeks ending Sept. 24, bringing the cumulative total number of cases for the health region to 615 cases.

Among those cases, the Squamish Nation has reported 43 cases of COVID-19 among its members since the beginning of September. Only eight of those case are still considered active.

Vancouver Coastal Health – which also includes Vancouver and Richmond – had reported 3,094 cases to Sept. 24, with 380 of those cases occurring between Sept. 17.

As of Monday, there had been 8,908 cases reported in total in B.C. since January, with 1,302 active cases in the province. Of those 69 people were in hospital and 22 of those were in intensive care.

Many of the new cases have been among people in their 20s and 30s, who now make up the largest age group of COVID-19 cases in B.C.

Those who are hospitalized tend to be in their 60s and 70s.

On Monday, Dr. Bonnie Henry, the province’s medical health officer, said contact tracing has shown the main source of recent COVID-19 infections have been social events, including private parties and events like weddings and funerals.

“What this means is that through the choices we make, we can control the course of the pandemic as we're moving into the fall,” said Henry. “Whether the curve goes up further stays the same, or goes down, relies on us.”