NEWTON'S LAW
How Surrey's West Newton neighbourhood became the `epicentre' for COVID-19
Data released this week by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control may provide some insight into the reasons Surrey has been the “epicentre” of COVID-19 in B.C. for much of the pandemic.
“Within B.C., Fraser Health has been the centre (of the pandemic) since after the first wave,” Fraser Health CEO Dr. Victoria Lee said on Friday. “Within Fraser Health, Surrey has been the epicentre.”
B.C. CDC data show that several Surrey neighbourhoods in particular have borne a “disproportionate burden of the pandemic,” including West Newton, which recorded an average of 60 daily cases per 100,000 people between May 4 and 10 — more than anywhere else in B.C.
In comparison, Whalley had 50 daily cases and East Newton had 49 daily cases, while Vancouver's Hastings-Sunrise neighbourhood had 17.7, Kitsilano had 7.1, Burnaby Southwest had 15.3 and Downtown Kelowna had 13.3.
The higher transmission in some Surrey neighbourhoods may reflect risk factors in those places that aren't as prevalent in others, said Lee.
For example, some parts of Surrey are high-density, which is linked to higher transmission rates in general. Socioeconomic factors may also play a role, as well as the type of work people do, such as working in food processing or essential services. Living arrangements, such as living in a multi-generational household, can also contribute to higher case numbers.
Neighbourhood statistics collected during the 2016 census show that Newton, including both West Newton and East Newton, displays several of those risk factors. It is one of Surrey's highest-density neighbourhoods. The average household income in Newton is lower than the rest of Surrey ($90,049 compared to $93,586), with a slightly higher proportion of renters and a slightly lower labour force participation rate.
Forty-nine per cent of Newton's population are immigrants, compared to 43 per cent for Surrey as a whole. Fifty-eight per cent of the population is of South Asian descent, while 39 per cent of the population is between the ages of 35 and 64.
Multi-generational households have been hard hit by COVID-19 variants that are more contagious, said Lee.
During the first and second wave, a sick person who isolated at home would not necessarily pass on the virus to other members of their family, but as variants have become more prevalent, it has proven “nearly impossible” for people living together not to get sick.
Newton, which was once known as a rough town crisscrossed by railway tracks and King George Boulevard, has undergone rapid change and growth over the last three decades. Many had pinned hopes for revitalization of the urban centre on the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project before it was scrapped by the city in favour of SkyTrain.
Lee said a multi-faceted approach has emerged as the best way to reach as many people as possible in B.C.'s most diverse neighbourhoods.
Fraser Health has been working with community leaders to understand barriers to accessing health information and getting vaccinated and then developing ways to eliminate them, she said.
As a result, several unique initiatives have emerged in tandem with the municipality and community groups, including providing supports to families that have to isolate, including food, as well as transportation to testing sites.
Lee said it has also proved important to “meet people where they're at” to help them register and book vaccination appointments. In a religious neighbourhood that has meant holding targeted registration events at gurdwaras, mosques and temples, which are then followed up by an immunization clinic for those who registered the week before.
In addition to “on the ground” work, Fraser Health has gone online to hold town hall meetings in different languages or with young social media influencers.
B.C.'s largest health authority has had to be “flexible, agile and adaptable,” said Lee, who chose to work in Fraser Health in part because it is a “global village in a local setting.”
As of Thursday, 800,080 people had been vaccinated across Fraser Health.