COVID-19 outbreak at Bylands declared over

A COVID-19 outbreak among foreign workers at Bylands Nurseries in West Kelowna has been declared over.

Bylands temporarily shut its doors after the Interior Health Authority declared the outbreak on March 28 when two migrant workers tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Medical health officer Dr. Silvina Mema says 31 people were tested and 23 were diagnosed with COVID-19.

“There were no cases in the community related to this outbreak,” Mema said. “All of our guidance was followed and that is what has led to this outbreak being declared over today.”

Mema said the source of the outbreak remains unclear but there is a belief one or two of the workers may have been incubating the disease when they arrived in Canada from abroad.

She said their arrivals in the country took place before a B.C. government order requiring any international travellers to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.

“Our priorities in Interior Health were to control the outbreak as soon as possible so that no more workers were impacted or sick [and] to mitigate any risk of this outbreak to the community and we were successful in doing that,” she said.

Mema said it was now “business as usual for Bylands Nurseries.”

She said there are no other outbreaks among foreign workers in the Okanagan.

When asked about fruit pickers coming from Quebec, Mema confirmed there are no domestic travel restrictions although there has been some concerns expressed about domestic workers.

However she said there are provincial guidelines in place to ensure workers are in an “appropriate environment” to prevent transmission of the disease and for early detection of cases.