The Chief of Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc is asking people to remain vigilant in the fight against COVID-19 given the increase in the number of cases in the Kamloops area.

Kúkpi7 Rosanne Casimir is asking people to treat everyone like they have COVID-19 and follow all provincial guidelines on social distancing, masks as well as avoiding non-essential travel and social gatherings.

“These are all simple rules to follow and will make all the difference. Only then we will all be able to see steps towards flattening that curve and numbers within our reserve go down,” she said. “We’ve realized that fears are heightened, stress levels are up and mental health is taking a toll on all of us.”

Casimir says Tk’emlúps has a COVID hotline at 1-877-346-0792 that can be people can call if they need assistance.

“The first year, we had been fortunate with no incidents on our community, within our reserve,” she added. “Today, we have seen a drastic rise in the number of COVID cases through Secwepemc’uluw and now we’re seeing those numbers increase substantially here on our reserve and in the Kamloops area.”

“We all need to remain calm and take responsibility for our commitment to following the provincial health orders.”

According to the most recent data from the BC Centre for Disease Control, there were a record 124 COVID-19 cases in the Kamloops local health area between Jan. 17 and 23. There were another 15 cases in Merritt, 59 cases in the Vernon area, and 0 cases in the North Thompson – all of those numbers remaining the same as the week before.

A full map of the COVID-19 case count can be found here.