By Lyonel Doherty and Dale Boyd
Regional district officials are reporting that campers are following the COVID-19 rules at Loose Bay campground hosting mostly migrant agricultural workers.
“I can say that so far everything is proceeding very well,” said Karla Kozakevich, chair of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen board.
Information officer Erick Thompson said he hasn’t heard of anyone not following the strict protocols on site.
“There hasn’t been (to my knowledge) any infractions,” he noted.
And none of the approximately 45 campers have reported an illness, he added.
Regional district officials are doing everything they can to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on the site, Thompson said.
The regional district has taken over management of the public campground last week after the Loose Bay Campground Society dissolved.
The campground currently has three staff members including a site manager, a site caretaker, and a newly hired RDOS COVID-19 coordinator.
All new campers at Loose Bay are greeted by the coordinator and are then required to complete a COVID-19 self-assessment before entering the camp. This step is also required for anyone who has been away from the camp for more than 24 hours.
Campers are also provided with a site orientation and discussion about COVID-19 prevention including physical distancing. A copy of the orientation is provided in English and French. Visitors, such as farmers looking to hire temporary workers, are asked to complete the COVID-19 self-assessment before entering the camp.
If an individual is identified as having COVID-19 symptoms, steps are in place to ensure the individual follows provincial health directives. This includes contacting 8-1-1 Health Link and following the directions of a nurse. Next steps may include making arrangements for a COVID-19 test and quarantine if directed by a physician. Isolation would be facilitated by Interior Health and coordinated by BC Housing.
As it turns out, the site does not fall under provincial health regulations for worksites as originally thought by the RDOS.
“We don’t fall under the public health order, we don’t fall under the Emergency Program Act, we’re basically operating a public campground, is what it turns out we’re doing,” said regional Chief Administrative Officer Bill Newell at the RDOS board meeting May 7.
However, the regional district is still working to meet the guidelines set out for campsites under public health orders.
“It is now truly becoming a discussion about what do we do with these agricultural workers as they come into the area,” Newell said.
Along with workers, there is a population of vulnerable and homeless people camping in the South Okanagan on Crown land.
“We know that there are large populations of campers at least in three areas between the border and Oliver,” Newell said.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Interior Health have been in discussions with other ministries on how to move forward with unsupervised Crown land areas.
“We’re looking at should these unsupervised campgrounds on Crown land be supervised? Or how do we make sure they are staying safe?” Newell said.
Allan Patton, former chair of the Loose Bay Campground Society, said everything appears to be going according to plan.
“We’re pretty confident that we got this under control.”
The one item they are lacking is masks, which are hard to come by, he pointed out.
