Okanagan Correctional Centre (File photo)
Dale Boyd
Osoyoos Times
The province is reporting no new COVID-19 cases at the Okanagan Correctional Centre since an inmate tested positive on April 2.
Both B.C. Corrections and Interior Health confirmed, along with Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, only one person, an inmate, has tested positive as the correctional centre remains under observation by the health authority.
• Read more: Inmates released early from Okanagan Correctional Centre due to COVID-19
Ongoing testing and surveillance is underway, but to date only one positive test has been observed at the facility “and there have been a number of negative tests in that outbreak response,” Henry said.
BC Corrections confirmed as of April 13 only four inmates were released early due to COVID-19 concerns after the province began conducting assessments on non-violent inmates in March. Visits to the institution have been restricted since March 12 and any new inmates who entered the facility were isolated for 14 days.
There are a total of 45 new cases of COVID-19 in B.C. as of April 13, with 136 positive tests in Interior Health. There were 11 new deaths in B.C. since Saturday, with a majority related to long-term care residents, Henry said — bringing the total to 69 deaths related to COVID-19 province-wide. Out of 1,490 total cases in B.C., 905 have fully recovered.
• Read more: Risk of exposure to public low after inmate tests positive for COVID-19 at OCC
One additional positive test was reported related to the outbreak among a group of temporary foreign workers now quarantined in on-site housing at Bylands Nurseries Ltd. in West Kelowna, bringing the total number of positive tests related to the outbreak to 20.
“Interior Health is working very closely with the owners, the property owners, to make sure everyone is cared for and they are able to self-isolate or quarantine effectively,” Henry said.
