Public exposures, outbreaks and enforcements

With the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, contact tracing is a less effective tool in the timely management of COVID-19. As such, Public Health is no longer able to contact everyone who tests positive, and Northern Health will not be listing school exposures for individual cases.

K-12 students are required to follow COVID-19 safety measures and complete daily health checks. Everyone who tests positive for COVID-19 is expected to identify and contact their own close contacts.

Learn more:

• Revised order from the Provincial Health Officer (PDF)
• BCCDC Handout: Instructions for close contacts (PDF)
• Read about children and the COVID vaccine

Northern Health’s public health team supports school communities by responding to larger clusters and outbreaks. K-12 schools are closely monitoring school attendance data to determine if/when public health needs to be engaged for support and guidance.

Northern Health updates this page if a school outbreak is declared. When the outbreak is over, the school is removed from the list.

Northern Health will post details of enforcement measures taken with respect to compliance with current Provincial Health Officer and Northern Health Regional orders, including:

• Measures under NH regional COVID-19 restrictions
• Requirements to show Proof of Vaccination to access some events, services and businesses
• The order on masks in public indoor settings

Northern Health is receiving and following up on complaints and concerns from across the region. Where establishments don’t immediately come into compliance with public health orders, NH pursues progressive enforcement measures from education, up to and include warning letters, tickets and closure letters.

Enforcement of public health orders is also being supported by provincial enforcement officers from other agencies authorized to issue violation tickets.

Posting summary information about substantiated non-compliance, written warnings and Public Health orders strengthens public accountability and transparency.

The following tables list businesses or workplaces that are subject to enforcement measures in the Northern Health region, and the status of that enforcement, including those pending compliance, rescinded or reopened.

Active enforcement measures

Rescinded or inactive enforcement measures

BC’s provincial health officer (PHO) has put in place an Expedited Workplace Closure order to allow WorkSafeBC inspectors to support the work of public health and to support businesses when a COVID-19 outbreak occurs at a worksite.

Effective Monday, April 12, workplaces with COVID-19 cases related to workplace transmission may be closed down for a minimum 10-day period, unless there is an overriding public interest in keeping that workplace open. Public Health will determine whether it is more likely than not that transmission has occurred at work.

If the public health investigation determines that transmission of COVID-19 has occurred at a workplace, an order may be issued closing the workplace for 10 days or longer to stop the transmission. In the case of complex workplaces (e.g., large construction sites), the closure may be restricted to those parts of the workplace where transmission has occurred.

The following table lists workplaces that have been closed in the Northern Health region, and the date of their expected reopening.

A public exposure (alert) is issued when public health officials are unable to ensure they can identify and directly contact everybody who may have been exposed to a potentially infectious case of COVID-19 in a public setting where they may have been in close contact. NH will update this public exposures page with information if and when there is a possible exposure to COVID-19 to the public in our region.

The possible exposures listed on this site are believed to be low risk but, out of an abundance of caution, Public Health asks anyone who may have visited any of the locations listed on the specified dates and times to monitor themselves for symptoms.

There is no known risk to anyone who attended any listed locations outside of the specified dates and times. If people remain healthy and do not develop symptoms, there is no need to self-isolate and people can continue with their usual daily activities. If you develop any symptoms of COVID-19, please self isolate and contact the Northern Health Virtual Primary and Community Care Clinic: 1-844-645-7811, or contact your primary care provider. If you have been identified as a COVID-19 case or close contact, please know that NH Public Health will contact you directly and provide further instruction.

*Locations will be removed from the list approximately one month after the last exposure date.

For notifications of public exposures related to flights, work sites, cruises, long-distance bus and train travel, and public events, please visit the B.C. Centre for Disease Control public exposures page.

For more information and resources regarding COVID-19, visit our Coronavirus Information (COVID-19) page.

The following list includes any outbreaks of COVID-19 declared in Northern Health region communities or facilities. (For information on non-COVID-19 outbreaks in NH facilities, please see below). As with public exposures, please remember that if you have been identified as a COVID-19 case or close contact, NH Public Health will contact you directly and provide further instruction.

Outbreaks of non-COVID-19 illnesses/infectious diseases, such as respiratory infections (e.g. influenza), gastrointestinal illnesses (e.g. norovirus), and Clostridium difficile (C.diff), in any hospitals, long-term care facilities, other health facilities within the Northern Health region, or those that are licensed under the Community Care and Assisted Living Act, are included here.

An outbreak occurs when more than two people have the same illness that can be linked back to one source or cause. The medical health officer determines when an outbreak will be declared. For C. difficile, an outbreak is declared when the number of cases increases above what is normally experienced.

Please note that the threshold for declaration of an outbreak is not extremely high (i.e. it takes only a handful of cases of illnesses for us to declare an outbreak), so that we can control and end an outbreak early, before it can affect more people.

If you are intending to visit a facility listed below, please consider postponing your visit until the outbreak is over, in order to help keep you and your loved ones healthy.