With only a handful people testing positive for COVID-19 in Agassiz and Harrison, the area is back what it was seeing in the month of December.
Between Jan. 17 and 23, seven people tested positive for COVID-19 in the Agassiz-Harrison local health area, which covers everywhere between Sts’ailes First Nation, Ruby Creek and up past the northern tip of Harrison Lake. This is around the same number of people who tested positive each week in December.
At the beginning of January, between Jan. 3 and Jan. 9, 19 people tested positive in the local health area, marking a major spike from the expected numbers. A week later, Hope also saw a major spike, with 18 new cases in one week.
RELATED: Hope area sees spike of 18 COVID-19 cases in the past week
In the eastern Fraser Valley, Agassiz and Harrison have had some of the lowest rates of COVID-19 — aside from the one week blip.
(Weekly COVID-19 rates per 100,000 people is used to compare new cases in areas with different populations. The rate is calculated by dividing the new COVID-19 cases from the most recent census data for the local health area.)
Because of the small size of the communities, tiny changes to the number of new COVID-19 cases can have fairly significant impacts on the weekly rate of new cases. One new case in Agassiz and Harrison can mean the difference between 62 cases per 100,000 people or 72 cases per 100,000 people.
Although COVID-19 case numbers are trending down in Abbotsford and Mission, the region as a whole is maintaining roughly the same number of new cases each week. Other areas in the Fraser Valley, particularly Surrey, Langley and Delta, are seeing a trend downwards.
Agassiz and Harrison have some of the highest rates of transmission in the province. Although the number of new cases is not nearly as intense as in places like Fort Nelson (472 new cases per 100,000 people) or Howe Sound (579 new cases per 100,000 people), Agassiz and Harrison are still in the top third of all local health areas.
Local health areas in the bottom third of the province for COVID-19 cases are seeing less than 30 new cases per 100,000 people each week.
Although these areas may have had no or very few new cases in the last week, that does not mean the virus isn’t circulating in those communities. The B.C. Centre for Disease Control is only able to track positive test results, and not everyone who has COVID-19 always gets tested.
SEE ALSO: COVID-19 outbreak declared at Glenwood Seniors Community in Agassiz
The province is asking individuals to get tested as soon as they have COVID-19-like symptoms, even mild ones.
The nearest testing sites for Agassiz and Harrison residents are in Chilliwack (9090 Newman Road), Hope (1275 7th Avenue) and Mission (7324 Hurd Street).
All sites accept adults and children over three months. Walk-ins are available on a first-come first-serve basis, but appointments are preferred.
COVID-19 testing appointments can be booked online through the Fraser Health website.Those needing help booking appointments can call the central intake number: 604-587-3936.
For more information about COVID-19, visit fraserhealth.ca/covid19.
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