For the first time, the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) has released COVID-19 data for “Local Health Areas” in B.C., including for the Revelstoke Local Health Area.
According to statistics released on August 27, there have been a total of three COVID-19 cases in the Revelstoke Local Health Area between January 1 and the end of July 2020.
“Today, we have provided the latest local health area map of COVID-19 cases. The map will be updated each month and available on the BCCDC website. What the map tells us is that virtually every part of our province has been touched by the virus — communities large and small,” said Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry in a statement.
Previously, the BCCDC had only released data broken down into a much larger “Health Service Delivery Areas” within Interior Health. Revelstoke is grouped within the Thompson Cariboo Shuswap Health Service Delivery Area, which also includes Kamloops, Salmon Arm and other population centres, making it difficult to discern what the COVID-19 case situation was in Revelstoke.
The Revelstoke Local Health area includes Revelstoke and sparsely populated areas nearby. According to a 2018 Interior Health profile of the area, it has a population of 7,870 people.
The total number of cases from January to July in the Revelstoke Local Health Area includes cases of known residence. “Cases of unknown residence and from out of province are not mapped,” states a note on the new graphic.
The case numbers are cumulative, showing all of the cases in the Local Health Area. They are not real-time numbers. As they are updated each month, the total number of cases for that month can be calculated by subtracting the previous month’s cumulative case total.
The BCCDC also notes that the case numbers may not indicate the location of exposure. For example, a Revelstoke resident who contracts COVID-19 while out of town, then returns to Revelstoke and is diagnosed here would be counted in the Revelstoke Local Health Area. The BCCDC also notes that the numbers reflect cases that are detected and reported, noting that “the virus may be circulating undetected in the community, including in areas where no cases have been detected by public health.”
The BCCDC plans to update the numbers for Local Health Areas on a monthly basis. A PDF document with the breakdown of numbers for the area is now published on the main COVID-19 data webpage on the BCCDC website.
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