Interior Health (IH) is looking for any individual who may have had contact with an inmate who tested positive for COVID-19 at Okanagan Correctional Centre (OCC).
However, IH’s medical health officer is confident that the risk of exposure to the general public is low.
The patient is receiving care, with necessary infection control precautions in place. Individuals in custody who may have been exposed are all being monitored, stated IH, and there are currently no signs of illness beyond the first patient. An investigation into any contacts or potential sources is underway.
Visits to OCC have been restricted since March 12 and any new inmates who entered the facility were isolated for 14 days.
Public Health is working with BC Corrections and the Provincial Health Services Authority to identify individuals who may have had contact with the inmate. Those individuals will be monitored to ensure they are not symptomatic and that appropriate self-isolation instruction is followed as necessary.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced the COVID-19 positive case at OCC on April 2, marking the first outbreak at a correctional facility in B.C. She said this was ‘something we were concerned about and planning for’.
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