There were two new COVID-19 cases in the Terrace local health area (LHA) between May 23 and May 29, according to the latest data published by the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC). That is the same number of new cases compared to the previous week.
Terrace saw the most new cases in the northwest, with Smithers recording one new case. There were no new cases in the Nisga’a, Kitimat, Haida Gwaii, Prince Rupert and Upper Skeena LHA’s.
Those BCCDC figures for the Nass Valley may not match numbers self-reported by the Nisga’a Valley Health Authority (NVHA), due to differences in how the two organizations track cases.
Since the start of the pandemic to April 2021, there have been 790 COVID-19 cases in the Terrace area.
As of June 3, the BCCDC reported that 71 per cent of all adults in the Terrace LHA had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine — an increase of two per cent compared to the previous week. That is the same vaccination rate as the province as a whole. Sixty-seven per cent of people in the Terrace area over 12 years-old have had at least one dose.
B.C.’s new COVID-19 cases were below 200 for a second day June 2, the lowest infection rate in six months, and the province has already reached vaccination rates to allow for lifting regional travel restrictions on June 15.
Public health targets for the next phase of its restart plan, easing of the mandatory mask mandate as early as July 1 are also in reach, but no changes will be made sooner than those dates, Health Minister Adrian Dix told reporters June 2. The other key measure is patients in hospital, which have continued to drop with under 250 in hospital and 70 in intensive care. There has been a total of 1,707 deaths in B.C. since the pandemic began.
Dix said he is encouraged by the increase in vaccination rates, with 71 per cent of adults having at least one dose and more than 79 per cent of people aged 40 and up. That is well past the province’s stage two reopening plan to lift restrictions on travel between the Lower Mainland, North-Interior and Vancouver Island as early as June 15, which called for at least 65 per cent to be vaccinated.
— With Files from Tom Fletcher
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