Update: Possible COVID exposure on Kelowna flight

UPDATE:

The BC Centre for Disease Control says passengers who were on a July 6 flight from Kelowna to Vancouver may have been exposed to COVID-19.

It has listed Air Canada flight 8421 on its website for possible exposure.

It’s recommended that passengers self-isolate and monitor for symptoms for 14 days following the flight.

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It appears an Interior Health facility in the Kelowna area is being overwhelmed with calls and visitors following some positive COVID-19 cases in the city.

An IH official says testing for the coronavirus is not needed for those who are not displaying any symptoms.

“Interior Health recognizes that recent positive cases in the Kelowna have created concerns for local residents,” said Karl Hardt, IH senior communications consultant. “This has resulted in a high volume of calls and unscheduled visits to our local testing centre.”

Hardt said that while Interior Health has capacity to test individuals who need it “we are reminding everyone that testing is not required for those who do not have symptoms.”

He said it is also important that anyone who has symptoms and is requesting testing needs to call ahead to book an appointment as assessment-testing sites do not provide testing on a drop-in basis.

Last Friday, eight positive cases were identified in Kelowna although six of the people live outside of the IHA.

On the weekend, Interior Health issued a further advisory for anyone who had been in the downtown or waterfront area of Kelowna at gatherings between June 25 to July 9 to monitor themselves for COVID-19.

Locations involved were the Discovery Bay Resort on Sunset Drive from July 1 to 5, the Boyce Gyro Beach Lodge on Lakeshore on July 1, the Cactus Club on Water Street from July 3 to 6 and Pace Spin Studio on Harvey Avenue on July 2, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9.

Anyone who was at those locations on those dates should self-isolate and monitor themselves as contact tracing continues, said the health authority.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Adrian Dix has said several of the COVID-19 exposures linked to the Kelowna are believed to stem from private parties held by people in their 20s and 30s.

Adrian Dix says that the cases involved people from three different regions of B.C. and serve as a reminder of the risks posed by private gatherings.

(with files from The Canadian Press)