On Monday, March 17, Tumbler Ridge Council took the unprecedented step of closing a number of District buildings to the public to stop the spread of Covid-19.
There is currently no timeline for the how long the closures might last.
They took this step on the advice of Doctor Charles Helm, who, while the Chief of Staff at the Tumbler Ridge Health Centre and an employee of Northern Health, was not representing the Health Authority. “We hear a lot about flattening the curve,” says Helm. “We have the opportunity to flatten the curve. We have some of the best folks in the world working on this in BC. I think of Doctor Henry and Minister Dix and their daily news releases, and it’s working incredibly well. What I would like to see if somehow we can replicate that in TR, a collaboration between scientific knowledge and political presence to get message out reliably and responsibly to our residents.”
He says the province has done a great job in producing information, but Tumbler Ridge is not like the places where the information is focusing on. “The advice we’re getting from different levels of government is extremely good, but it’s urban based. We need to fine tune it for Tumbler Ridge and make it locally applicable. I’m not suggesting going against anything from BC Health, but how do we apply it locally and make it locally relevant. You’ve all heard about social distancing. If we can’t get social distancing right, nobody can.”
He says there is some information that needs to get out as soon as possible. For instance, he says, “this is not the time for employers to request sick notes. If they are sick, they are sick. Don’t send people who are sick in to get a sick note. That’s just crazy.”
Another big issue: “Phone, phone, phone. Do not just show up sick. Phone the clinic. Phone the Emergency room. People are encouraged to call the Northern Health Covid Line. This will keep people out of the Health Centre, who could potentially infect other people.
He says the District can help by limiting people’s chance of exposure to the disease, including closing the Community Centre, Willow Hall, The Museum and the Visitor Centre. “You’re are also able to recommend to restaurants to enforce the two metre social distancing recommendation. Anyone else coming back to Tumbler Ridge—including the snowbirds—are going to have to self-isolate. How do we make it easier for them? That just needs a community response, which the District can take the lead on.”
He says this means setting up home deliveries from the grocery store, from the pharmacy, from the restaurants
Helm proposes signage on these facilities. “If you’ve come back from Arizona, there should be a sign saying ‘Phone us. We’ll sort it out for you. Don’t come in.’ This might need volunteers. We might need service clubs can help.”
But with the province reducing the size of gatherings from 250 to 50 and the states proposing people not gather in groups larger than ten, he says these closures are imminent. Indeed, elsewhere they are already happening. “Closing the Community Centre is not revolutionary. Delta and Surrey did it yesterday. Calgary did it yesterday. Quebec and Alberta have gone even further. The reason it is particularly important here is that we have a diagnostic and treatment centre here. We don’t have patient beds. At best we have one ambulance. Our regional hospitals prior to Covid were at peak capacity. We don’t want to overwhelm the system. What happens if our first responders get sick?”
By doing this, says Helm, the District is going to save the lives of some of the community’s most vulnerable people. “We have unique opportunities and unique risks. If we get into trouble here, we can get into trouble very quickly. It’s better to act now.”
To the best of his knowledge, says Helm, he knows of no one in town with the disease. However, he’s being very cautious. “It takes up to a week for a test from our area to come back, so as of a week ago, there were no positive cases. There could also be people who haven’t been tested. Things are changing day by day, hour by hour. When it is obvious what you need to do, it’s too late. My medical opinion is the time is now to take action and get ahead of the issue. I’d like to see us collaborate and work together, whether that be through newspaper articles, Facebook posts. It’s a time of stress for everybody. It’s wonderful to have the provincial and Northern Health websites. But it’s nice for our residents—who are closer to us than to Prince George—to have credible information from us. Not rumours, not stuff floating around on the internet. ”
He says the clinic is doing what it can to cope, including creating a separate stream for patients with respiratory issues. “We are very lucky in the design of our building in the design of our building that we can do keep people with respiratory issues separate. That’s our goal.”
Councillor Howe says there are people who feel the medical community is over-reacting, including him. “What do you say to these people?” he asks.
Helm says his job as a medical professional is to bring the best science and best health information to people. It’s scary. That’s why there is a need for transparency. There is no room for agendas. Put it out there. Those people who say this is just a form of a flu…there’s a lot of wishful thinking. I wish it, too, but we have to look at Italy and Spain and realize the luxury we have. If I was able to talk to my colleagues in Italy, they would say use the window.
“There’s a very small chance that the medical community has got it wrong, and if I am wrong and in a couple months our economy is a little dented, and people point the finger at me and say you were wrong, and I’ll say I did it in the best intention. But if they are wrong, then people are going to die unnecessarily.”
He acknowledges that shutting down the Community Centre will have consequences. “There are consequences to do this. It’s one of the places where kids hang out together.”
But there are consequences to not doing it, too. “Kids can get this and be highly infectious without appearing very sick. If one kid passes it on to another kid, and then passes it on to Grandpa, it puts him at risk.”
Councillor Kirby says the Health Care system in the region isn’t strong right now. “How many times have we had to come in and help? We don’t have the staff. If we can do one thing by closing things down and enforce social distancing, it takes the stress off the health centre. And Health Care is our number one priority.
CAO Jordan Wall asks Helm what happens if they let up too early. “If we close the community centre, how long will that be for?”
Unfortunately, says Helm, that’s not something he can answer. “If you relax your restrictions too early, there have been cases of secondary spikes. Unfortunately, it might be longer than one thinks.”
But, he says, he expects Council is only slightly ahead of provincial recommendation. “If council decides to make the decision tonight, I’d expect that in a week it will be standard across the province. At that stage it’s better to go with the province and with Northern Health’s recommendation.”
Councillor Howe asks how he can explain why the Community Centre is closed to people who ask. Helm points to Italy and Spain. “What went wrong there? We are only three or four weeks behind them. What happens if that exponential curve happens here? There’s a couple futures here for us. One of those is the exponential curve, and I don’t even want to think about what that. The other option is that we use the window we have. That people buy into this. And we need people to buy into this.”
Councillor Howe says Canada is not like Itally. “We are not being told by the federal government or the provincial government that we should close. Our population density in Canada is 4 people per square kilometre. In Italy it’s 206 people per square kilometre. It’s even less up here. I feel we’re creating panic, stress. I think it’s going to be a bunch of other issues created by closing the Centre. I have no problem doing it where the older folks are, but I honestly feel we should wait until we hear from the provincial government. It’s a lot easier pill for our residents to swallow. My take on it is just wait. We know there’s an announcement coming from the government tomorrow, and we can wait to see what they have to say about it.
Acting Mayor Darryl Krakowka says the District needs to listen to its medical advisors. “We have to take what Dr. Helm says seriously,” he says. “I have faith in that. We’ve all been watching the news. We’re just waiting for the cases to come to Tumbler Ridge. If this is a way we can protect our residents. If this will help flatten the curve…we don’t have any beds in the community. We have one ambulance. But I honestly think we have to support the residents of the community.”
Helm says people should be taking this issue seriously, and not panicking. And self-isolation does not mean locking yourself in your house. “I encourage people to get outside and enjoy the weather. We live in a beautiful area, and there’s nothing stopping you from going outside and going snowmobiling, hiking, skiing, whatever.”
