Emergency centre for Big White outbreak closes

An emergency operations centre, created to help manage the COVID-19 cluster at Big White, has been shut down.

Officials with the Kootenay-Boundary regional district say the centre, which had been active since December, is no longer needed.

The centre’s responsibilities included finding suitable quarantine accommodation for anyone infected by COVID-19 who was not able to safely self-isolate.

Interior Health now has the capacity to manage any future accommodation request put forward by Big White staff and residents, the regional district says. But the centre could be activated again should the situation change.

Interior Health is scheduled to issue an update Friday on the numbers of people affected by the Big White COVID-19 cluster.

As of last Wednesday, when the most recent update was provided, 231 people were linked to the cluster. At that point, 145 people had recovered and 16 were in self-isolation.

Since the Big White COVID-19 cluster was first identified, Interior Health has consistently said it is safe for people to visit the resort provided they obey pandemic protocols like wearing a mask, observing physical distancing, and frequently using hand sanitizers.

Michael Ballingall, resort vice-president, said Thursday that no one who’s connected to the cluster remained in quarantine at the resort.

Although Ballingall said the temperature at the top of Big White was –33 C on Thursday morning, he nevertheless expects it to be busy at the resort this Family Day long weekend.

“People should arrive early because parking after 10 a.m. becomes very touch and go,” Ballingall said.

Between Wednesday and Thursday, 449 new cases of COVID-19, including 58 in Interior Health, were confirmed across B.C.

The number of people who’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19 in B.C. stands at 159,887, only 2,000 more than on Wednesday, as the renewal in vaccine shipments promised by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has yet to begin.