Langley COVID numbers more than double from last week

Langley’s COVID-19 cases rose sharply again for the third week in a row, according to data released Wednesday by the BC Centre for Disease Control.

In the week from July 25 to 31, Langley had 37 new confirmed COVID cases. That’s more than double last week’s total of 16 cases.

It’s been a rapid change from mid-July, when Langley had just four cases in a week and several neighbourhoods showed no transmission at all.

The rapidly-spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus has caused cases to spike across B.C. despite the fact that more than 73 per cent of all residents in B.C. have received their first shot, and more than 60 per cent have received their second shot and are fully vaccinated.

In Langley, every neighbourhood saw COVID cases in the week measured from July 27 to Aug. 2.

The case rate – the number of cases per 100,000 people – was highest in Walnut Grove/Fort Langley at six. South Langley Township and Langley City had a case rate of four, Aldergrove/Otter, Brookswood/Murrayville, and North Langley Township had a case rate of three, and Willoughby had a case rate of two.

When it comes to vaccination progress, Langley is about in the middle of the pack in the Fraser Health region, and is trailing behind several of its neighbours.

In Langley, according to BCCDC data, 80 per cent of eligible residents have received their first shots, and 69 per cent of locals have received their second dose.

Surrey, Burnaby, New Westminster, and the Tri-Cities area are all well ahead of Langley in terms of first doses, with residents there achieving rates of between 84 per cent and 88 per cent for first doses.

The Central Okanagan remains the hot spot for B.C., with 450 cases over the same period Langley saw 37, but new COVID cases are popping up in areas that had none earlier in July, or increasing in number in areas that had just a few.

READ MORE: COVID cases creep up in Langley