Central Okanagan travel discouraged amid COVID-19 outbreak

KELOWNA (NEWS 1130) – Health officials have declared a COVID-19 outbreak in the Central Okanagan, due to a surge of cases in the area, and are urging unvaccinated British Columbians not to travel there.

Starting midnight Thursday, masks will be mandatory indoors in that part of the B.C. Interior, which includes Kelowna. Masks will be encouraged outdoors if physical distancing is not possible.

Bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and gyms are allowed to stay open with safety protocols, which include no movement between tables.

Here’s a look at the central okanagan region if you are wondering if the measures coming into effect today affect where you are or where you are going.#bcpoli #covid19 @NEWS1130 pic.twitter.com/e0PZziRLt9

— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) July 28, 2021

Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry explained Wednesday that the province’s new regional approach will include business inspections to be stepped up, and may lead to some temporary closures if necessary.

“It is a new strategy because we have high immunization rates. So that means the virus is not going to spread as widely and as rapidly as we saw even a few months ago.”
The top doctor adds the new approach is because “we’re now in a new place.”

“We are going to see clusters and flare-ups and communities in amongst people who aren’t yet protected. So it is a different approach,” she says, adding this strategy is possible since the province has been able to see high levels of immunization in most areas of the province.

“We don’t need to take as broad a cross-sector or across province restrictions because we have a vaccine now.”

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• B.C. records 267 COVID-19 cases over the weekend, including 115 in Interior Health

Ellen Walker-Matthews is the CEO at Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA). She says she agrees with the regional approach instead of alternatively taking a provincial approach.

“It’s unfortunate that it happens to be in the Central Okanagan. But understandably, they have concerns around the numbers … to reduce those numbers quickly, they’ve done what they feel is necessary,” she says.

Interior Health has recorded the newest and active COVID-19 cases in the past week, including 113 new infections on Wednesday.

When asked how many of the cases recorded within Interior Health are among people who live there compared to tourists, Interior Health Chief Medical Health Officer SUE Pollock said cases are assigned to their home location, meaning the infections are among residents.

“We’re certainly hoping that it can be short-lived, and it can get things under control. And we can get back on track,” Walker-Matthews says. “This is a summer that we need desperately coming out of COVID and just not coming out of COVID as it is. Between some of the issues that we’ve had labor shortages, other things that businesses are struggling with, we really, really need to get back on track and have a good summer.”

BREAKING: @Interior_Health CMO
-discouraging travel to/from central Okanagan unless fully vax
-recommending events be only outdoor not indoors – if indoors with masks
-any event should have covid safety plan incl fairs, festivals, events#bcpoli @news1130

— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) July 28, 2021

However, Renee Merrifield, the MLA for Kelowna-Mission, tells CityNews that while she has been supportive of the provinces advice and orders in the past, she feels disappointed with the most recent decision – adding she feels the region is “being singled out.”

She adds, she is fearful for the impacts to businesses.

“I’m very scared for them. They’re hanging on by a thread, they have been through a rough two years,and this does not help anything with respect to that.”

Related Article: ‘It’s the right move’: B.C. tourism industry reps support Central Okanagan COVID restrictions

Merrifield says she believes the province is instilling – what she calls ‘Yo-Yo- fear’ – when the province eases and tightens restrictions which create confusion about travel.

“Restrictive measures that will not offer a lot of consolation to those that have been doing a good job and doing their part over the course of the last 18 months,” she says.

Instead, she wishes the province set up a press conference months ago to explain their objectives with vaccination rates and infections clearly.

But Walker-Matthews says she just wants people in the area to follow the advice of the province.

“Let’s get these numbers down and under control. And if you’re not vaccinated, we really encourage you to get vaccinated,” she says.

“We don’t want it to go beyond this. We really want to make sure that we can, again, enjoy the summer keep businesses afloat.

Q where are cases coming from?
Dr Pollock — it's not one big event like some others have been
50% linked to social gathering work place or private gathering
30% can't determine where exposure#bcpoli #covid19 @NEWS1130

— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) July 28, 2021

On Tuesday, the province announced the interval between doses for British Columbians was shortened from eight weeks to seven. However, on Wednesday, health officials announced that in a bid to get people in the Interior fully vaccinated faster, the duration is being cut much more dramatically, down to four weeks between doses.

The province has shared figures showing less than five per cent of new COVID-19 cases are among fully vaccinated people, adding unvaccinated people are at “significantly greater risk of severe outcomes” from COVID-19.

“Seventy-eight per cent of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are completely unvaccinated, and a further 18 per cent have only received their first dose,” Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday, of data from June 15 to July 15, 2021.

According to the province, 15 of the 21 deaths in that timeframe were among unvaccinated British Columbians. Another five were among those who have only received their first dose. Just one fully vaccinated person died in that 30-day span.

“This is why it is extremely important that we all get both those vaccines, and now is our time to do that, not only to protect ourselves but to protect those around us,” Henry said.

As for the surge in cases within the Interior Health region, Pollock doesn’t believe it is linked to one single event. Instead, she says about half are due to social gatherings, while it’s unclear where about a third of patients were exposed to the virus.

With files from Hana Mae Nassar, Marcella Bernardo, Liza Yuzda and Ashley Burr