COVID cases in Langley continue to rise

While COVID-19 infection rates across B.C. have remained at a high plateau in recent weeks, they’re still going up in Langley.

In the week from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, 220 people in Langley tested positive for COVID-19. That’s up from 199 the week before, and marks a new local high for the fourth wave, driven by the delta variant of the virus.

Langley’s rate of new cases remains between 15 and 20 per day, per 100,000 residents.

As has been the pattern for the last several weeks, the Fraser Valley, where more stringent gathering restrictions went into effect last week, has higher numbers, while the rest of Metro Vancouver is seeing lower rates of transmission.

Abbotsford, Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows, and Mission were all seeing higher rates than Langley, while Surrey, Tri Cities, and most Vancouver neighbourhoods were lower. Rates in North Surrey and Richmond actually saw a decline in the last week.

READ ALSO: Langley sees almost 200 COVID cases in a week

Langley’s neighbourhoods saw a wide variety of case rates in the week from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, according to BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) data.

The daily case rate is the number of cases, per 100,000 people, per day.

Brookswood/Murrayville had the highest rate last week, with a case rate of 23.

Langley City had a rate of 22, and both North Langley Township and South Langley Township had rates of 21.

The Aldergrove/Otter area had a case rate of 17, Willoughby was at 13, and Walnut Grove/Fort Langley had the lowest rate over the course of the week, at eight.

In general, Langley, Maple Ridge, Mission, and Abbotsford are still seeing higher rates of transmission than areas to the west such as Surrey, Richmond, Burnaby, Vancouver, or the Tri Cities.

Langley’s vaccination rate rose by one per cent from last week, with 87 per cent of local residents now having had at least their first shot. Langley remains about in the middle of the pack for the Fraser Health region.

Delta has the highest vaccination rate, at 93 per cent with at least one shot, followed closely by North Surrey at 92 per cent. Hope remains the lowest at just 76 per cent of residents having been vaccinated.