
With dozens of COVID-19 cases at the Big White ski resort, Interior Health says it’s better equipped to limit a potential similar outbreak at other ski hills.
As of this afternoon there were 60 cases linked to an outbreak at Big White, most of which have originated from shared staff housing.
Medical health officer Dr. Silvena Mema says IH now has better stop gaps in place to try and cut off future outbreaks. She says contact tracers are now flagging any situation where there could be transmission at ski hills.
“We are vigilant, and we are looking into any potential transmission in our ski hills. And we are prepared if we have to deploy testing in an area where testing is not readily accessible to people.”
Sun Peaks, for example, now has a COVID-19 testing site set up in the village for use on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 10 a.m. and noon.
Big White employees fired following community cluster
Meanwhile, one day after the cluster at Big White was announced, the resort says it has fired an undisclosed number of employees for breaching their COVID-19 social responsibility contracts.
“This situation is ongoing and has our full attention,” Michael J. Ballingall, the Senior Vice President at Big White Ski Resort said in a statement. “Big White Ski Resort Ltd. has a zero tolerance policy with any employees who are found to be in breach of these documents.”
He says the resort management team is working with Interior Health to find safe and isolated housing for people who have been affected by this cluster which came about after a party on Nov. 28 which had about 20 to 25 people in attendance.
“We are seeing that individuals are sharing their bedrooms, with two, three, four people – sleeping in the same bedroom and that is where we are seeing the cases come from,” Dr. Mema added.
“The cluster started, most likely, with a number of different cases. I do not believe this is just one individual that initiated the large cluster.”
Interior Health says more testing and contract tracing is already underway noting a plan is being developed to help the resort handle more cases as they appear.