Youth Centre latest facility reporting positive COVID-19 case
By Timothy Schafer Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The flames of the COVID-19 wave have been fanned further in the city as another Nelson institution has reported a positive case.
The Nelson and District Youth Centre (NDYC) is the next Nelson place to report a COVID-19 case after youth centre staff received a positive case confirmation from one of its patrons late Wednesday.
The person who tested positive attended the day camp on Friday, Aug. 6 (only the one camp day), noted a press release from the city.
The announcement joins a growing list in Nelson of places reporting COVID-19 cases recently, including the Nelson and District Community Complex on Wednesday as well, with Jubilee Manor earlier this month and several city businesses.
“Youth Centre management has contacted all families to who this exposure may have impacted,” the city release read. “Please note, if you were close to a confirmed COVID-19 case, Interior Health would contact you directly.”
The sanitizer has been out in full force, however, as the NDYC has “undergone extensive cleaning in addition to the already enhanced centre cleaning due to COVID-19.”
In a The Nelson Daily story on Monday it was reported that the increase in new COVID-19 cases in the Nelson area has forced a handful of businesses to close for a reset due to staff testing positive, or else dealing with workers affected through contact-tracing of the virus.
City takes steps
The recent rash of positive cases has the municipal government instituting its own restrictions.
“In response to the recent increase in COVID-19 confirmed cases in the Nelson Local Health Region, the City of Nelson has made the decision to move back to mandatory mask wearing in all city-owned and operated facilities effective Monday, Aug. 9,” noted the city’s website.
“All visitors are required to wear a mask if entering any City of Nelson-operated building in order to ensure the safety of our staff, contractors and others visiting these sites.”
Complex issues
Earlier this month a person attending an RDCK camp program at the community complex tested positive for COVID-19.
On Wednesday the RDCK was notified by the Interior Health Authority that a person who attended a camp from Aug. 5-6 confirmed as positive, but anyone who was present on those days is being contacted directly by the IH Public Health team.
Bigger picture
All of the Nelson cases underline the fact that the Interior Health Authority region currently leads the province in total new cases and total active cases.
There are 258 new cases in the IHA as of Wednesday — more than the rest of the province combined — with 2,045 total active cases.
Fraser Health (135 new, 699 active), Vancouver Coastal Health (105 new, 493 active), Island Health (26 new, 222 active) and Northern Health (12 new, 116 active) all have much lower new and active cases than Interior Health.
In the past 24 hours, one new death (Interior Health) has been reported, for an overall total of 1,778.
There are 3,585 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 148,446 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 72 individuals are in hospital and 29 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
Nelson’s Jubilee Manor headlines a list of eight active outbreaks in long-term care homes, including: Holyrood Manor, Kin Village West Court, Evergreen Baptist Care Society (Fraser Health); Kootenay Street Village, Cottonwoods Care Centre, Brookhaven Care Centre (Interior Health); and Discovery Harbour (Island Health).
