Photo: Tourism Revelstoke - Chris Tinadem

The cluster of COVID-19 cases in Revelstoke has grown to 49 people as of Friday, but 26 of the infected people have now fully recovered.

The cluster of cases in the small ski town was first disclosed by Interior Health on Nov. 26, after 22 cases were identified. The cluster grew to 46 earlier this week, and three new cases have been recently identified.

“The smaller number of new cases this week is encouraging – a drop off like this is what we want to see after we have completed our initial investigation and have connected with those we have identified as close contacts to original cases,” said Dr. Karin Goodison, medical health officer with Interior Health.

“However, we do anticipate new cases for a week or two after a cluster is declared, so nobody should be letting down their guard in Revelstoke right now. Interior Health continues to see a significant number of new cases every day and these are impacting rural communities as well as our larger centres.”

While Premier John Horgan said earlier this week the cluster was linked to recreational travellers, Interior Health's chief medical health officer clarified that they haven't actually identified a “patient zero.”

“There is no one specific incident that led to the bigger number of cases. There are some that have been household clusters, some people picked it up when they went to a worksite, some people may have gone to a private function,” Dr. Albert de Villiers said.

“It's not just one person that travelled in and caused all of this, I don't think it's as simple as that."

Dr. Goodison says she is “cautiously optimistic” about their work in containing the cluster.

“We would like to thank the mayor, local businesses and residents in the community for their support in reducing the risk of further exposures in Revelstoke,” she said. “Everyone in all communities needs to take action to minimize the spread of COVID-19.”