Kamloops mayor urges residents to ramp up caution, scale down social interactions amid fourth wave

Photo: Castanet Staff

The Tournament Capital's mayor is urging residents to scale down social interactions and avoid complacency as the fourth wave of COVID-19 hits the city.

Mayor Ken Christian made the remarks during Tuesday’s city council meeting, saying the delta variant has been “wreaking havoc” in Kamloops.

“We need to protect and preserve acute care space in Kamloops, and right now it is at a premium — if not exhausted. I have been advised that in northern B.C., patients are being evacuated from northern B.C. to space available elsewhere,” Christian said.

“We are in the thick of the fourth wave and we need to be cautious. I think because we've been at this so long, we've become a bit complacent in terms of some of our behaviours and it's time we ramp those right back up because we are really facing a challenge.”

Data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control shows the Kamloops area recorded 270 new cases in the second week of September — the most recent period for which data has been made publicly available. New local health area numbers will be released Wednesday.

Christian encouraged those not yet vaccinated to attend one of Interior Health’s pop-up vaccination clinics.

He said those who feel sick should not be attending work, school, church or social events.

“There are a number of cases within our community, and my urging to the public is that they limit their social interactions [and] that they increase the frequency by which they would wash their hands,” Christian said.