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The latest on COVID-19 in Delta

The provincial state of emergency ended on June 30
Sandor Gyarmati
Sandor Gyarmati
city of delta covid-19 south delta vaccine site
At the last meeting of Delta council, Mayor George Harvie encouraged the community to continue to follow the provincial health officer’s guidelines. Sandor Gyarmati/Delta Optimist

The numbers just keep getting better.

According to the BC Centre for Disease Control’s latest community map of confirmed COVID-19 cases, covering the period July 11 to 17, Delta had just two cases.

Meanwhile, Surrey had 24 cases, Richmond had 13, Langley had 12, Abbotsford had three, Burnaby had 31 and Vancouver had 37 cases.

As of July 20, 87 per cent of eligible Delta residents ages 12 and older have received at least their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

That’s up slightly from the previous week.

Overall in B.C., currently just over 80 per cent of eligible people 12 and older have received their first dose.

A recent City of Delta report notes Step 3 of the BC's Restart Plan is allowing for the transition back to a more "normal" pre-pandemic state of operations for the city.

“This means that a number of the orders that were put in place under the authority of the BC Emergency Program Act in response to the pandemic will be no longer in effect. In the previous report to council, it was noted that some adjustments in response to BC's Restart Plan will be quicker for the City to make than others, and as we have done all along through the pandemic, staff will be taking a cautious, conservative approach,” the report notes.

The provincial staged plan has met all milestones to date, and if that continues, the province will enter the final Stage 4 on Sept. 7.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen what safety measures will still be in place for schools in the upcoming school year.

In a letter to parents at the end of June, Delta School District Superintendent Doug Sheppard noted that, based on guidance from the Office of the Provincial Health Officer, students will no longer be in learning groups or cohorts in September.

Pending further public health guidance, it is also expected that current restrictions on gatherings, extra-curricular activities and sports will be relaxed in time for the new school year.

The Ministry of Education is working with the provincial K-12 education steering committee and public health officials to review health and safety measures, noted Sheppard, adding they anticipate receiving updated health and safety measures for the return to school later in August and will share more information at that time.