The MP for Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo doesn’t think that revealing the locations of COVID-19 cases across the Interior Health area is a privacy issue.

Cathy McLeod, who is a former nurse, says people deserve to know where these cases are.

“There was some push back from the local physicians, saying really it doesn’t change things, and to assume that its there in your community.” she said. “However, I think that more information is better, I disagree with the approach but of course, at the end of the day, they are right in terms of assume its there, and we know what we need to do.”

McLeod says she has challenged the fact that that kind of information is just not out there right now.

“If we know about an outbreak in a seniors home in Vancouver, we should know about cases throughout the region,” McLeod added, saying even if Interior Health won’t reveal the communities where these cases are, at the very least, the regions should be made public.

“You know why shouldn’t we know how many cases, even if its in the Thompson Region, the Kootenay region, the Okanagan region as opposed to this generic number,” she added. “Again, more information is always better.”

There are 30 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Interior Health, as announced by the government, though the actual number is likely higher with a number of presumptive cases.

Over the weekend, Sun Peaks confirmed that a doctor in that community had tested positive for COVID-19, while a medical clinic in Revelstoke too notified people of a case there. In Kamloops meanwhile, a participant at a bonspiel in Kamloops two weeks ago has tested positive for COVID-19.