Since November 1st, 130 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Northern Health.
The spike has led to a pair of outbreaks at long-term care facilities, most notably at Rotary Manor in Dawson Creek where a total of 12 cases have been confirmed among residents and staff.
Two men in their 70’s and 80’s passed away as a result of the virus.
Northeast Chief Operating Officer, Angela De Smit told Vista Radio a test positive case was reported yesterday (Wednesday) at Peace Villa in Fort Saint John.
“There was one worker within the facility that has tested positive, we have no transmission to residents or other staff at this time but we have increased our environmental cleaning and our measures.”
As for when the outbreaks will be declared over at either facility, De Smit stated a definitive date has not been determined.
“The worker (at Peace Villa) had symptoms that presented and we expect that it would run (the outbreak) until around the 25th of November. Rotary Manor is dependent on whether we have further transmission. Because we did have transmission, then the outbreak is declared for 28 days.”
“All social visits, face to face have been suspended but we continue to have essential visitors as well as convalescent, palliative care visits, and we increased access to virtual visits and at Rotary Manor, they have some large windows that are accessible to the public so we can still do window visits there.”
Northern Health has seen 552 infections since the pandemic was declared in March, with 75 considered active.