Central Vancouver Island is accounting for a bulk of new cases recorded within Island Health over the last week. (The Canadian Press)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

big jump

COVID-19 case surge through central Vancouver Island continues

Oct 25, 2021 | 4:22 PM

NANAIMO — New and active cases of COVID-19 continue to mount for Island Health, focused primarily in the central region.

The health authority reported 184 new cases over three reporting periods from Friday, Oct. 22 to Monday, Oct. 25.

Of the additions, 121 came from the central region which encompasses communities like Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum, Port Alberni, Tofino and Ucluelet.

Active cases rose to 500, an increase of 48 from Friday. Again, central Vancouver Island led the way with 278 active cases and an increase of 39 from last week.

Northern Vancouver Island and the B.C. central coast reported 52 active cases, a rise of 11, while southern Vancouver Island has 170 active which is a drop of two from Friday.

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Case data from the BC Centre for Disease Control from Oct. 14-20 showed a very high rate of new cases in the Alberni-Clayoquot region, totalling 29 new cases per 100,000 people.

Over the same time period, greater Nanaimo saw seven per 100,000, while Oceanside recorded a case rate of four per 100,000 people.

Updated data from Oct. 21-27 is expected by the end of the week.

Earlier Monday, Island Health declared an outbreak at Tofino General Hospital over.

The outbreak was initially declared on Oct. 12 and saw six people test positive for COVID-19.

The province reported 1,618 new cases over the same three weekend reporting periods, moving the total number of cases of COVID-19 in the province since the start of the pandemic to 202,516.

Active cases fell to 4,966, representing a drop of 140 from Friday. The number of people in hospital rose slightly to 366, including 149 people in intensive care.

A majority of both new and active cases are in the Fraser Health region, which recorded 43 per cent of cases over the weekend.

Public health also recorded 20 COVID-related fatalities over the weekend, including three within Island Health.

There is a data discrepancy between Island Health and the province, based on the timing of daily COVID-19 results. For local case tallies, NanaimoNewsNOW reports verified data from Island Health.

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