Vernon’s Sparkling Hill Resort has confirmed it had a guest who tested positive for COVID-19.
On Thursday (Sept. 3) Interior Health (IH) notified the resort that a guest who visited the resort “more than seven days ago” was diagnosed with the coronavirus, according to Sparkling Hill’s Operations Manager Conagher Jones.
Jones said the IH environmental health officer who reached out said there were no additional risks posed to staff or guests and advised the resort to continue to its current protocols, which follow guidelines from IH and the BC Centre for Disease Control.
“Their request was just that we continue to follow our plan, and they confirmed that our plan does meet or exceed all of their expectations,” he said, adding no recommendations for self-isolation or additional testing were deemed necessary.
Jones said health and safety protocols have been an ongoing focus since the resort reopened in June.
Precautions taken since the start of the resort’s reopening include closing all steam and sauna facilities, switching breakfast service from buffet-style to a la carte, installing Plexiglass barriers, providing ample hand sanitizer and taking extensive measures to sanitize guest rooms and common areas.
The resort also added thermal imaging cameras to scan everyone who enters the resort for fevers.
“There’s nothing more important than protecting the safety of our guests and our employees, so really it’s just continuing to focus on those areas,” Jones said.
IH follows protocols for contact tracing outlined by the BCCDC to help identify cases earlier and reduce the chance of spreading the virus.
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