Officials are thanking organizers of a barrel racing event for ending it early over the long weekend, because of concerns with COVID-19.
The event had an anticipated 325 participants and was supposed to run from Friday to Sunday, at the Mount Paul Centre rodeo grounds, but it was asked to shut down early by health officials.
Many people were camped out at the rodeo grounds in trailers as of Friday, and participants came from as far away as Alberta and Saskatchewan.
A joint statement from Tk’emlúps chief Rosanne Casimir, the First Nations Health Authority and Interior Health thanked organizers for agreeing to end early.
The statement says chief and council felt the barrel racing event contradicted COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
Transmission of COVID 19 and or its variants does impose a risk to our membership and our community, so steps are being taken to uphold those protocols and keep our community safe,” Casimir says.
“We were even more concerned when we learned that there were attendees that came from as far away as Alberta and Saskatchewan.
“We do believe the event was moving with honest efforts to ensure safety as per their collaboration with FNHA. With the increased numbers of COVID 19 in B.C. and the new provincial restrictions put in place, Chief and Council have upheld the Provincial Health order prohibiting gatherings and events.”
NL News has reached out to barrel race organizer Jim Cornelsen for reaction to the weekend event. On its Facebook page, Kamloops Race Central thanked attendees, saying they “tried (their) best to give you a safe race.”
“The community has gone above and beyond in supporting our race through added money, their time, their machinery, volunteers from other businesses,” a post says.
“You barrel racers are amazing how you followed our COVID guidelines.”
On Friday and Saturday, respectively, there were 1,018 and 1,072 new COVID-19 cases, and three of the past four days have now seen record daily case counts with more than 1,000. Variant case information for Friday and Saturday’s updates have not yet been available, but those more-contagious variants are believed to be driving much of the new cases.
In B.C., large gatherings, indoor and outdoor, have been restricted for now more than a year. Just last month, outdoor gatherings with up to 10 people were allowed to happen.
When asked about the event during a media conference late last week, before it started, Interior Health chief medial health officer Dr. Albert de Villiers couldn’t comment specifically on the rodeo event, saying he wasn’t sure at that time if it had received an exemption to public health rules.
“In general, events like this, if they do want to allow it, do have to get very special permission. They’ve got to have a very strong COVID-19 safety protocol. Like we’ve seen with the Western Hockey League and BC Hockey League as well. And some of the golf tournaments that are going to go ahead later in the summer. So yes, if they do submit a really good plan, there is a way to go forward.”
(Photo: Twitter: @JDickie92)
