By Lyonel Doherty and Dale Boyd
Schools in the South Okanagan are remaining open Thursday as the province and local authorities continue to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic
Minister of Health Adrian Dix and B.C.’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced seven new cases of COVID-19 in B.C. bringing the total to 46 total cases in the province on March 11.
The new cases marked the first in the Island Health region, with new cases also announced in the Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health region.
“Three patients have been discharged from hospital and are now recovering at home. One person is in hospital. All other patients with COVID-19 remain in isolation at home with care and support from public health teams,” the statement reads.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.
School District No. 53 (Okanagan Similkameen) superintendent Bev Young said their staff continue to get the word out regarding good hand washing and hygiene to offset the spread of all illnesses.
“We have no trips to Europe or Asia this spring that we need to worry about, and the international students who are registered with us are registered in distant learning.”
She said this addresses the issue of not having to get students home or back under these circumstances.
Young said no trips have been planned to the U.S. during spring break, but there are dry grad trips planned in June. Staff will monitor travel advisories to theme parks closer to those dates.
Young said they are continuing to update parents through school websites.
Patsy-Anne Takacs, principal of Tuc-el-Nuit Elementary School, said staff are having students wash their hands often, and are reminding them not to touch their faces.
“We sent a letter home to parents recently that was sent to us from Interior Health.”
Val Allen, head of school for Senpaq’cin School, said the First Nation Health Authority has been sending emails out about the virus.
“Our lunch program will be served by cooks and no more open salad bars,” Allen said. “I’ve talked to the head custodian about making sure all surfaces and door knobs are disinfected daily.”
Allen noted that all classes have disinfective wipes and hand sanitizer.
“Teachers have always had students wash their hands during snack, lunch or eating times throughout the day. Fortunately, after this week, we are on spring break for two weeks.”
The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen has experienced “no impact at this point,” and no events have been cancelled said Bill Newell, chief administrative officer. He said the RDOS has a Business Resumption Plan it will follow if its essential operations are threatened.
RDOS staff will continue to monitor the situation as it evolves and will take action based on information available from Interior Health.
Boundary-Similkameen MLA Linda Larson said her office has been advised that it’s up to staff to decide whether or not to maintain regular hours in light of the pandemic.
“Most of rural B.C. is still maintaining normal hours,” she said, noting that offices on the coast, close to where outbreaks have been reported, have been advised to work remotely.
Larson said her office always answers the phone and emails even when closed.
The MLA said constituency assistant Patt Vermiere may decide not to physically allow people into the office during the pandemic.
“It’s our choice at this point,” Larson noted.
Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) Chief Clarence Louie said they are encouraging good hygiene by providing hand sanitizers in their offices.
He noted the virus threat has led to the cancellation of the annual diabetes conference in Penticton, and the OIB has cancelled sending their youth to a conference in Kamloops.
“It is a real threat and hopefully a vaccine is found soon,” Louie said.
Cathy Cowan, Oliver’s chief administrative officer, said they are currently monitoring the situation and working on a plan to address the needs of the municipality.
“We do have signage up requesting individuals of the public to use the supplied hand sanitizer prior to approaching the counter.”
Cowan said they routinely disinfect the surfaces within the office and have told staff not to come to work if they are not feeling well.
Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff is in regular daily contact with local directors, first responders and staff. With healthcare and pandemic response falling under the jurisdiction of the province, the Town of Osoyoos is focused on protecting staff and emergency personnel with the same preventive measures put forward by the province.
“People are worried about going to visit their loved ones at care facilities. There are so many things and we don’t even quite know how to answer them. So our job from the town is to try and protect our employees. All we can do really is give them information and please be aware that if you’re not feeling well don’t come in, wash your hands all that,” McKortoff said.
“We’re not going to have any large gatherings. Thank heavens. We don’t have anything in the works right away or we might have to look at that and see whether that makes sense to not hold them, or to postpone them. It’s too new to everybody and we’re trying to deal with things on a daily basis.”
One of the few events in Osoyoos which could see large numbers of people is the upcoming Atom Fiesta hockey tournament. BC Hockey has advised on their website that they are monitoring the situation, and South Okanagan Minor Hockey Association (SOMHA) said they are waiting to hear whether the tournament is going ahead with opening ceremonies scheduled for Friday at Sun Bowl Arena.
BC Hockey stated on their website they are also keeping up with updates and recommendations will be ongoing.
“We are in daily communication with our national partner, Hockey Canada, and we are monitoring updates, recommendations and warnings that may be issued by the Government of BC and Government of Canada,” said Barry Petrachenko, CEO of BC Hockey, in a statement on their website on March 10.
There has yet to be any major event cancellations in Oliver or Osoyoos, with some events in Penticton and Kelowna cancelling and School District No. 67 cancelling all international trips.
Oliver Osoyoos Wine Country said in a statement that they will “continue to take actions necessary to help protect the community and our visiting guests.”
Major events upcoming for the organization include the Pig Out Festival on May 2 and the Half Corked Marathon on May 30.
“At this time, Vancouver Coastal Health encourages public gatherings to continue with the customary precautions regarding food preparation, site cleaning etc.,” the statement reads.
“If the health authorities recommend that large scale events do not take place, we have strategies in place to postpone our signature events. If we decide to take this course of action, we will communicate details and new dates to participants as soon as we can.”
Echoing that statement the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) said they are also monitoring the situation and will provide updates on tourism and travel as they are available.
“While there are currently no reported cases of COVID-19 in the Thompson Okanagan region and just over 100 persons infected in total in Canada to date, indications are that these numbers will increase in the coming days,” said Glenn Mandziuk, president and CEO of TOTA in a statement.
