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Health officials warn British Columbians to hold the line amid bump in cases

25 cases a day? 'That’s way above my comfort zone,' said Henry
COVID-19 swab
Health officials say anyone who attended events where community exposure is possible should get tested

The emergence of several community outbreaks of COVID-19 across the province over the last week has health officials warning British Columbians to maintain a commitment to social distancing. 

In one cluster, at least 17 cases have been traced to a group of people who met up in Kelowna, some from the Interior and Alberta, others from the Lower Mainland.

“There are a number of people who have been exposed in those events,” said Henry Tuesday. 

More troubling still is the emergence of new cases at the Krazy Cherry Fruit Company in Oliver, where two have been identified among migrant workers. They were among 62 cases identified in B.C. between Friday and Monday.

“Public health teams are monitoring the situation closely and have placed restrictions on those living and working on the farm to limit the potential for further transmission,” said Dr. Henry in a written statement today.

But others have expressed concerns that not enough is being done to prevent outbreaks among vulnerable groups. Where newly arrived immigrants were disproportionately affected at earlier outbreaks at poultry plants in Coquitlam, others say migrant agricultural workers still run higher risks due to inadequate housing.

“As anticipated,” said Byron Cruz of Sanctuary Health, an organization that works to protect migrant workers from predatory practices. “We knew that something was going to happen because the situation for housing in that farm is terrible. They were all crowded.”

‘WAY ABOVE MY COMFORT ZONE’

Yesterday, Dr. Henry warned 25 cases a day was “distressing” and “cautionary to us.” And while not unexpected due to the increased travel and social interaction of phase 3, she said “That’s way above my comfort zone.”

Dr. Henry urged anyone who attended Canada Day parties in the vicinity of the Kelowna cluster to self-monitor for even the mildest of symptoms, noting that anyone can be tested should they feel they’ve been exposed.

Just how quickly a province or state can backslide has been painted in stark relief among our neighbours to the south.

In comments to the press Tuesday, Health Minister Adrian Dix pointed to surges in several U.S. states where record breaking daily caseloads in several states have led jurisdictions like California to re-introduce physical distancing protocols, in what Dix described as “lockdown 2.0.”

“All our neighbouring jurisdictions continue to see an increase, whether it’s our neighbouring province to the east, Alberta, or others, Washington, Oregon and California, in Nevada, Arizona and in other American states — we’ve seen record days of new cases of COVID-19 recently,” said Dix.

Here in B.C., Henry said that on Monday, she checked how weekly caseloads are tracking with the province’s modelling that suggests British Columbians keep their social contacts to 65% of normal.

“We are still skirting that line. The RT, the reproductive number, is hovering around one… which is sort of pushing the limits of where we need to be,” she said.

While health officials work to contain the outbreak in Oliver, it’s unclear how a potential surge in cases will affect that calculation, and Byron Cruz of Sanctuary Health said he expects more cases to crop up in coming days due to their tight living quarters.

What is clear is the more cases are contained to a single cluster, the easier they are to track.

“This is going to be our dance over the next few months, where we do what we can do, we travel, we have those social interactions, but we do it in a thoughtful way so we do it with the people we know we’re with,” said Dr. Henry.