EDITORIAL: Maybe we’ve finally gotten the COVID message with RIH outbreak

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK at Royal Inland Hospital is being described by some as “a reality check” or “wake-up call.”

In other words, we should all wake up to the fact that COVID-19 is active in Kamloops and renew our vigilance against it. Of course, we would have realized that a lot sooner if provincial health authorities had been more trusting of us with information about where the virus is spreading.

From the beginning there’s been a lack of detail that has nothing to do with privacy laws. No, we’ve been told we should simply assume the virus is among us here in the river city.

The reasoning goes that if we believed Kamloops was managing to avoid COVID we’d slack off on personal protective measures. Well, now there’s no doubt it’s with us, big time.

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Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.