The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) is reporting zero new cases of COVID-19 in the Revelstoke Local Health Area between October 1 and Oct. 31.
The BC Centre for Disease Control released its monthly COVID-19 numbers for the Revelstoke Local Health Area (LHA) on Nov. 12 and the report contains updated data from October 1–31.
The Revelstoke numbers are updated monthly and are the only official public source of all COVID-19 case numbers for the community. The last time the numbers were updated on Oct. 7 there had been three resident cases in total for the period spanning Jan. 1–Sept. 30, but there hadn’t been any new cases in the Revelstoke since before August.
The BC Centre for Disease Control first provided the case numbers for LHAs in B.C. in mid-August, but the first graphic poster that reported all totals from January 1–July 31 didn’t say when the first three cases were confirmed within that period. It is possible that there had been no resident COVID-19 cases for a period prior to July 31, but due to the way data is reported the exact times they occurred are not available.
The COVID-19 numbers include residents only. Visitor cases are not included, for example if a visitor had COVID-19 while in Revelstoke and then returned home.
The numbers also may not include people who did not report illness or did not receive testing.
How to get up-to-date COVID-19 information for Revelstoke
The B.C. Government compiles COVID-19 data with geographic details on this website. There are many kinds of reports, including the ability to break it down into health region, such as for Interior Health.
The Revelstoke LHA covers Revelstoke and rural areas around Revelstoke.
Interior Health reports cases in school districts on this website, including up-to-date numbers. Up to Nov. 9, there have been no cases in Revelstoke School District No. 19 since that system started reporting this fall.
Another source is public exposure incident reports. Public exposure incidents are events where the public may have been exposed but health authorities can’t trace some of those exposed, such as guests at a restaurant, bar, or public venue. There have not been any public exposure incidents in Revelstoke since this system started reporting public exposure incidents. Once the incidents are no longer active, they are removed from the website.
In the early days of Covid-19 in March, there were publicly reported visitor cases, and cases of people reporting illness but not receiving tests due to limited availability. Also, the Mountaineer reported on several cases of COVID-19 cases during the early days of COVID-19 in March, some of which were non-residents who would not be counted in the total for the Revelstoke LHA.
Health authorities also break down cases by health region on a weekly basis. Revelstoke is a small population in the larger Thompson Cariboo Shuswap Health Service Delivery Area. Find the weekly updates for our HSDA here.
Provincial authorities also notify of cases in long-term care facilities, but there have been none reported in Revelstoke since the pandemic started.
Why no daily local data for Revelstoke?
The provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, has responded to questions about providing local data at various points. Essentially, the government argues it is protecting privacy and doing it in a way that promotes public confidence in the health care system. One of the results is limited local COVID-19 data breakdowns. At this point, health authorities will not provide more detailed information, including in response to media requests.
Several individuals and groups have questioned the government publicly on the policy that restricts access to local data, but the government has maintained its position, although the weekly regional and monthly local updates were added to supplement the daily data by health region.
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