Revelstoke COVID-19 cluster at 49 total cases as of Dec. 4

Downtown Revelstoke, pictured on December 4, 2020. Photo: Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine

Interior Health is reporting the Revelstoke COVID-19 cluster is at 49 total cases as of Dec. 4.

In a Friday, Dec. 4 statement, Interior Health said there are 23 active cases, and said, “all those individuals are self-isolating.” It said 26 people who were infected have recovered.

The last Interior Health update came on Dec. 1, when it reported 46 cases in the Revelstoke cluster.

Interior Health (IH) said three additional cases were confirmed since Monday — contact tracing has been completed for each of these new cases.

In a statement, Dr. Karin Goodison, medical health officer for IH said the smaller number of new cases this week is encouraging. “A drop off like this is what we want to see after we have completed our initial investigation and have connected with those we have identified as close contacts to original cases.”

Goodison said to anticipate new cases for a week or two after a cluster is declared. “Nobody should be letting down their guard in Revelstoke right now. Interior Health continues to see a significant number of new cases every day and these are impacting rural communities as well as our larger centres,” she said.

IH said environmental health officers are in Revelstoke providing additional guidance and direction to local businesses given the new orders that are in place.

“We’d like to thank the mayor, local businesses and residents in the community for their support in reducing the risk of further exposures in Revelstoke,” Goodison said. “We are cautiously optimistic about our progress and we urge everyone to continue to follow all public health guidance and orders. Working together, we can contain this cluster and prevent further cases of COVID-19 in the Revelstoke region.”

December 3 IH region COVID-19 update

IH announced on Dec. 3 that there had been 82 new COVID-19 cases overnight, bringing the total to 1,981. 602 people are active and in isolation. 16 people are in hospital, four of them in ICU. One person died, bringing the IH total to four deaths since the start of the pandemic. The individual was a resident at Mountainview Village, a long-term care facility in Kelowna.

In a statement, IH president and CEO Susan Brown said everyone had a role to play to stop the spread in their communities, asking residents to stick close to home.

“Limiting spread in our communities will help keep COVID-19 out of our long-term care facilities and help protect our most vulnerable,” Brown said.

Interior Health is listing two COVID-19 cases in assisted-living, long-term care home and seniors’ rental buildings. They are at Mountainview Village and Sun Pointe Village, both in Kelowna.

No new Revelstoke school exposures listed

Revelstoke School District No. 19 is not currently listed as having any school exposure incidents on the Interior Health school exposures webpage. The website lists the previously reported exposure incident at Ecole Des Glaciers school, which is part of School District No. 93, Conseil Scolaire Francophone.

Food bank programs seek Christmas Program donations

From left: Community Connections food bank workesr Erin MacLachlan, Patti Larson, and Melissa Hemphill. Larson, who has worked at and coordinated the food bank for over 20 years will be retiring in early 2021. MacLachlan and Hemphill will be taking over her responsibilities and the role will be split into two. MacLachlan will focus on housing and community outreach issues, and Hemphill will focus on food security and insecurity issues. Together, they will oversee the new food distribution location, which now will have more drop-in services at one location. Photo: Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine

Demand at the Revelstoke food bank has nearly tripled since last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

in 2019, there were 4,400 Revelstoke food bank visits between May and October. This year, the number has increased to 11,000 for the same period.

The Revelstoke food bank has just relocated its outreach services building to 416 Second Street West this week. The line-up for services now stretches around the block.

The food bank had to cancel some of its major food drive initiatives this year due to COVID-19 restrictions, and is appealing for help.

The food bank is holding a variety of fundraisers in partnership with local organizations. Here is a list of ways you can participate.

Drive to promote support for local businesses

Community Futures has announced a social media campaign to promote supporting local businesses impacted by the pandemic.

Community Futures said the new group will keep the great energy created during the Revy Sell Facebook page takeover event throughout the holiday season. Funded by Community Futures, the project will provide a communication tool for businesses to communicate everything from the COVID-19 status of their business, delivery and curbside pick-up options, daily specials and other promotions.

For more details, see this story from revelstokemountaineer.com:

Community Futures launches Revy Open for Business Facebook group

Across B.C.

On December 3, the provincial health officer reported 694 new cases of COVID-19 for a total of 35,422 cases. 9,103 are active, and there are 325 people hospitalized, 80 of whom are in intensive care. The rest are recovering at home in self-isolation. There were 12 new COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the provincial total to 481.