Another one of North Vancouver Island’s 26 Active COVID cases identified himself over Facebook last week.  Lawrence O’Connor is a stock car driver who contracted the disease while participating in a benefit race for Amnesty International in the Arizona Desert. 

One in Port Hardy

“There’s nothing pleasant about this painful illness; I feel like I’ve been eaten by wolves, and s**t off a cliff,” he wrote.

He arranged for friends to drop off groceries at his door, in Port Hardy, and is currently in quarantine.

Update from Cortes Island

Closer to home, Chief Kevin Peacey posted an update about the situation in the Klahoose village at Squirrel Cove on Cortes Island.

“Several people have been tested. They are self isolating. We are waiting for the results. The storm did not help delaying our ability to get the swabs off the island. We should know by Monday whether we have more confirmed cases. We will continued to announce the number of confirmed Covid19 cases as we get the results back. We hope that more “positive” cases are not going to happen but we are getting ourselves prepared. 

“Officially we have only one confirmed case and the contact tracing is STILL ongoing. This is why it is VERY IMPORTANT for everyone to follow the provincial guidelines and stay home, stay in your household bubble, wash your hands and mask up if you do leave your home. We are doing our due diligence, following the guidelines from various government agencies, as well as advice from our sister nation Tla’amin’s COVID19 emergency response team. 

“We do all live on this island together and I very much appreciate the whole community rising to this occasion and doing your part of shutting down COVID. On another note, I’m getting a lot of people asking how they can actually help, right now bringing a couple armloads of DRY firewood to keep our frontline workers warm at the check point is a fantastic contribution to our efforts here. Once again I raise my hands to you all. Emote.”

Whereabouts unknown: 24 active cases

Island Health has not disclosed the whereabouts of the other 24 active cases in the North Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area.

The 2016 census lists more than 122,000 people in this 40,225 square kilometre region.

There are a great many small islands and rural communities, as well as urban centres like Port Hardy, Port McNeill, Campbell River, Courtenay and Comox.  

The negative effects of attempting to contain the virus are visible everywhere, but many rural British Columbians communities may not know if the virus has come anywhere near their communities.

Links of Interest:

• (Cortes Currents) First confirmed COVID case on Cortes Island
• (Cortes Currents) Klahoose First Nation going into lockdown
• (Cortes Currents) COVID updates
• (Island Health) COVID 19 Daily Dashboard
• (BC Centre for Disease Control) BC COVID 19 data
• The British Columbia COVID 19 Dashboard

Top photo credit: Looking from the Squirrel Cove Dock towards the Klahoose village, on Cortes Island – Roy L Hales photo

This program was funded by a grant from the Community Radio Fund of Canada and the Government of Canada’s Local Journalism Initiative.