In a conversation with the Fernie Chamber of Commerce, a local doctor has warned against the potential of a COVID-19 outbreak in the Elk Valley.
Following an increase in case numbers in the Elk Valley, Dr. Ron Clark, Chief of Staff at the Elk Valley Hospital, expressed his concern about the possibility of a local outbreak.
“We’re now in a situation where if we order five tests for COVID, one of them is going to be positive. Over 20% of the tests we’re doing right now are returning as positive, and it’s across quite a wide swath of our population,” said Dr. Clark.
Clark noted that between 20 and 60 tests are done per day at the Elk Valley testing site, sometimes more, if remote testing is done at the mines.
Clark said because of the rise in case numbers, it is very important to remember the steps to protecting yourself from COVID-19: frequent hand washing, maintaining a distance from others, wearing a mask and staying home if you are sick.
“You have to allow your staff to be off if they’re sick, if they’re in contact with someone who is sick or is in the process of being tested, they should also be home,” said Clark.
Sue Pollock, Medical Health Officer with Interior Health said that residents and business owners should be aware of symptoms in themselves and others.
“For those individuals who do not get a phone call from public health to identify them as a close contact, but they have some concern, certainly they need to be very vigilant, and they should be self-monitoring,” said Pollock. “That’s something we should all be doing right now because we know COVID is out there, we know it’s in all of our communities, so we need to be very careful.”
Dr. Clark also expressed his optimism of a vaccine against the virus being rolled out across the world.
“We had all dreamed about having a vaccine available for COVID, and it’s here now. We are so close to have a situation where large swaths of the population will be able to be immunized and hopefully really seriously turn a corner on this,” said Clark.
Through the talk, Dr. Clark said people should be cautious when they hear information about COVID-19 that does not come from an expert.
“As a family doctor, I don’t consider myself even close to qualified to offer an opinion on the complexities of COVID, its infectiousness or the vaccine. If someone offering you advice doesn’t have a degree in immunology or public health behind their name, I would take anything, and I mean anything they say with a serious degree of reservation,” explained Clark.
Clark advised the public to listen to the advice given by experts, such as Dr. Bonnie Henry.
Even as vaccines are being rolled out, Dr. Clark and Pollock said it’s important to remain vigilant against the virus.
