There were no new COVID-19 cases at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, according to the latest data from Interior Health.

It means there are still 71 cases at the hospital – the same as yesterday – one week after the outbreak was declared.

There are 46 cases among staff and 25 among patients at the hospital, with one death – an elderly patient – connected to the outbreak which is still contained to a single surgical unit 6 South.

Health officials say there are daily symptom checks in place but no plans to regularly test staff at the hospital, though there are some exceptions. All new patients though will be tested for COVID-19 prior to being admitted.

A COVID-19 outbreak at the Brocklehurst Gemstone Care Centre is also holding steady, according to Interior Health. There have been 23 cases reported there – 16 residents and seven staff – with two deaths.

The last cases at the care home were reported over a week ago on Wednesday, Jan. 20 with no new cases since then.

Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian says both two outbreaks are of concern to him noting the COVID-19 cases go far beyond the hospital.

“This is evidence of community transition in Kamloops. It is here now and we need to double down on the precautionary efforts that we have had in place for eight months, nine months now,” he said on NL Newsday. “So let’s be sure about keeping our circles small, let’s wear our masks, let’s wash our hands.”

Christian is confident that hospital staff are doing what they can to contain the outbreak saying RIH is the backbone of acute care not only in the City of Kamloops, but for the entire region.

“That is an important outbreak and one that I am confident that the staff there are working diligently to quell, but it goes beyond Royal Inland Hospital,” he said. “We have a Long term Care outbreak, we have case identifications in schools, we have had them in business, we have them at the city of Kamloops.”

He says the most important thing to remember is stay home when you’re sick.

– With files from Jeff Andreas