A surprise pair of emergency room closures in the region through Sunday night and part of Monday morning.

Interior Health announced late Sunday afternoon that the ER’s in Merritt and Clearwater would both be closed for 13 hours until 7am on Monday.

In both cases, it was due to a lack of nursing staff.

Interior Health making that confirmation, in what appears to have been a reversal of internal policies surrounding the local ER shutdowns.

The Health Authority had been omitting the rationale for ER shutdowns in its news releases since last October.

The shutdown of the emergency room at the Nicola Valley Hospital in Merritt was the 2nd time its been shuttered this year.

The diversion in Clearwater is the first time in months that its been forced to shut down due to staffing issues, after Interior Health was able to work out staff retention issues at Dr. Helmcken Memorial close to a year ago.

Meanwhile, the lower mainland also getting a rare taste of emergency room closures.

Fraser Health was forced to shut down the Emergency Department at Delta’s Hospital overnight on Saturday and Sunday evening due to a lack of available doctors.