Communities on the North Island say they’re dealing with a spike in COVID-19 cases, and it’s prompting businesses and First Nations to halt operations.
Last Friday, Glen Lyon Restaurant & Pub in Port Hardy said it was closing its doors until at least Tuesday due to a COVID-19 exposure.
And farther in town, it’s a similar story. Kwa’lilas Hotel is currently temporarily closed.
In a Monday (Nov. 8) Facebook post, the hotel said reservations were automatically cancelled, with “recent COVID-19 exposures among staff as well as the growing number of reported cases within Port Hardy” to blame.
However, after a recent visit from Island Health, general manager Enrique Toledo tells My Triport Now the doors are set to reopen tomorrow (Wednesday). He’s 110 per cent sure they’re “very safe” to welcome guests back.
“We are conducting deep cleaning,” explains Toledo. “We were very blessed with Island Health. One of their inspectors came and offered us a lot of support and gave us a lot of information.”
But as the pandemic continues to take its toll, it’s still impacting business revenue and Toledo sums it up as “terrible.” Prior to the short closure, he says five different hockey teams cancelled, and various events cancelled as well.
Toledo says the hotel is part of Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations (GNN) and finds rising case counts really put a damper not just on local tourism, but locals themselves and their everyday lives.
Back on Nov. 2, the Nation was actually put under lockdown for 48 hours, with the advisory later extended to Nov. 8. “There were a lot of family members that were infected and tested positive,” Toledo says.
During the shutdown, all non-essential activities at on-reserve buildings were suspended, and GNN asked households with known exposures or positive test results to isolate.
As well, a few days prior, Coal Harbour-based Quatsino First Nation issued a similar statement on Oct. 31, saying a COVID-19 exposure urged the Nation to suspend all activities at its buildings for 48 hours.
Over 200 new COVID-19 cases in Island Health:
In yesterday’s COVID-19 update for B.C., provincial health officials reported 1,438 new cases of the virus from Nov. 5 to 8, including two epi-linked cases, for a total of 209,703 cases in the province.
More specifically, Island Health saw 221 new cases, with the total case count within this health region now sitting at 615.
Another live COVID-19 update is set for this afternoon…
