General store added to exposure list
The Fraser Health Authority has issued a warning to anyone who visited the Hope River General Store on Aug. 6, 7, 13 or 14.
In the public exposures section of its website, the authority detailed what hours shoppers and staff may have been exposed to COVID-19. The Hope River General Store is at 28605 Trans-Canada Hwy.
The announcement came a day after the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority made the similar call to diners at Vancouver’s Hawksworth Restaurant on Aug. 13 and drinkers at the Bartholomew Bar in Vancouver on Aug. 12 and 13.
The Fraser Health Authority also warned anyone who was at the Charlie Hamiltons Pub on Pinetree Way in Coquitlam on Aug. 4 between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. to self-isolate and monitor themselves for symptoms. The symptoms of COVID-19 may include fatigue, loss of appetite, fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, loss of smell, and/or diarrhea.
While the provincial health officer issues notifications of COVID-19 outbreaks in health care facilities and major workplace outbreaks, it is up to individual health authorities to issue public exposure warnings when contact tracers have not been able to find all the people who may have come into contact with a COVID -19-positive person.
The provincial health officer will also make a public announcement if the public exposure was very large, as was the case in Kelowna over the Canada Day long weekend when a group of COVID-19-positive partiers spent several days at beaches, pubs, clubs and gyms in the area. The most recent public exposure reported in Kelowna was at the Cactus Club on Aug. 8. The most recent exposure in the Island Health Authority was at the Il Falcone Restaurant in Courtenay on Aug. 16 between 3 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Flights that arrive or depart from Vancouver International Airport that have at least one COVID -19-positive person on board are reported on the B.C. Centre for Disease Control website. On Aug. 10 alone, six flights had a COVID -19 person on board.
There have been 21 COVID-19 domestic flights reported and 10 COVID-19 international flights reported.
An Instagram account called vancouvercovid with more than 22,000 followers and just 38 posts has been created to let people know some cases where no public notice has been made because all possible contacts were reached.