COVID-19 outbreak declared at Nelson long-term care home

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A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at a long-term care home in Nelson.

Interior Health declared the outbreak at Nelson Jubilee Manor Friday afternoon, after one resident and two staff members tested positive for the virus.

It's the only active COVID-19 outbreak in the Interior and one of just three across the province. The last active care home outbreak in the Interior was at Kelowna's Spring Valley Care Centre, which was declared over in mid-June.

Interior Health says a team of infection control and communicable disease specialists are meeting with staff at the Nelson facility on a daily basis to ensure measures are being taken to prevent more transmission.

“I want to thank the staff at Nelson Jubilee Manor for their quick identification of positive cases in the care home and for their ongoing work to protect residents,” said Medical Health Officer Dr. Fatemeh Sabet.

“Our teams are working together to contain this outbreak, and support the residents and staff who tested positive for COVID-19.”

As of Feb. 15, 85 per cent of the 40 residents of the Nelson Jubilee Manor had received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but the BC Centre for Disease Control has not released any new data on long-term care home vaccine coverage since then.

Interior Health has not said whether those who've tested positive at the facility have been fully vaccinated.