Northern Health issues COVID-19 alert for rural community of Prespatou, B.C.

Northern Health has issued a COVID-19 expsoure alert for the Prespatou region of northeastern B.C., approximately 90kilometres north of Fort St. John.

Anyone who attended events or gatherings of any size in the area in the month of August may have been exposed to the virusif physical distancing and masking guidelines were not being followed.

B.C.'s public health authorities only put out public notices when they can't contact everyone who was potentially exposed during the dates and times of exposure.

Northern Healthsays contact tracing and testing has identified multiple events and gatherings in the Prespatou region as possible exposure sites, but they have been unable to follow up with everyone who may have been exposed, prompting the alert.

This is the second public exposure alert issued this month for northeastern B.C. The first occurred when Northern Health traced 22 cases of the virus in the Fort St. John area to areligious gathering in Deadwood, Alberta.

According to Statistics Canada, Prespatou is an unincorporated community consisting of approximately 345 people. It has a general store and gas station, as well as a public school serving high school and elementary students from Prespatou and surrounding rural communities and reserves.