KAMLOOPS
PROGRESS
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MARCH 27, 2020 | Volume 33 No. 26
2020
A NEW DECADE OF
SUCCESS
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PROGRESS 2020
Find KTW’s Progress 2020 magazine inside today’s edition
WHAT’S INSIDE A3 Get to know what resources are available and how they can be accessed
WEEKEND WEATHER:
Sun, clouds, showers High 13 C, Low 0 C
A5 The City of Kamloops has not yet determined whether the deadline for property taxes will be extended A5 COVID-19 passenger was on plane that landed in Kamloops
MAZZOTTA’S PERSPECTIVE
Carmin Mazzotta’s recent second battle with cancer is allowing him to view the COVID-19 pandemic through a unique lens A15
REMEMBERED
Well-known WCT co-founder Tom Kerr died on Sunday A13
‘Something must be done’ KTW looks back a century to the Spanish Flu — the last time a global viral pandemic sickened scores of Kamloops residents TIM PETRUK STAFF REPORTER tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
I
n the last days of October 1918, Kamloops was dealing with something it had never before seen. After ravaging Europe and then spreading across North America, the Spanish Flu had arrived. B.C.’s provincial health office had recently imposed regulations limiting public gatherings. No churches, no shows, no school — no big assemblies of any type. The experts knew something big was coming. On Nov. 1, 1918, the Kamloops Standard-Sentinel had a grim front page: “Influenza Conditions in Kamloops Worsen; City May Be Closed To Those Coming From Infected Communities.” The city’s medical officer, Dr. M. G. Archibald, told council there was little other choice. “Dr. Archibald stated that the influenza conditions in the city were no better, in fact, not as good as they had been, and were getting worse all the time,” the front-page story read. “The conditions outside of town were a menace to this city. He declared that, with the city health board wanting to bring about any improvement in condi-
SPANISH FLU Between 1918 and 1920, the Spanish Flu is believed to have killed 50 million people worldwide, including an estimated 55,000 in Canada — thousands of them in B.C. The first case in Kamloops was reported on Oct. 11, 1918, according to local historian and author Andrew Yarmie. A week later, 22 local residents were infected. The first death in Vancouver was recorded on Oct. 10. Eight days later, there were more than 32 deaths in that city — ultimately leading to a death toll of about 1,000. The illness is believed to have infected about 600 people in Kamloops, more than 40 of whom died. At the time, the city’s population was approximately 4,000.
tions, it would be necessary to close up the town tighter.” Logging camps in the North Thompson were said to be a cesspool for Spanish Flu — dirty clothes, unsanitary food and general filth. Early November of 1918 was also the last days of the First World War, which dominated the newspaper even as a deadly illness began to take hold at home. “Allies sweep through Serbia like ‘flu’ through Canada,” one headline read. Because of the flu, Kamloops closed its city limits.
So did Merritt, Victoria, New Westminster, Penticton and dozens of other B.C. municipalities. On Nov. 4, 1918, the City of Kamloops and the local hospital board took another drastic step. Medical officials took over a downtown hotel, The Patricia, and a military barracks, turning both into field hospitals. Patients filled all local facilities, but medical professionals were in short supply. “The lack of nurses is now the great trouble and, unless there are a number of volunteers at once, the board will be in a sad predicament as it is impossible to secure nurses outside of the city as the demand for them is greater than the supply, all over the province,” the Nov. 5, 1918, edition of the Standard-Sentinel read. “Dr. Archibald, city medical health officer, stated to a representative of the Standard-Sentinel at one o’clock this afternoon that the influenza epidemic in this city was worse today and that, in his judgment, the contagion had not yet reached its zenith.” According to the newspaper, most homes in Kamloops had at least one case of Spanish Flu and, in some cases, entire families were laid up. See ‘NEVER BEFORE,’ A4
DAVE EAGLES/KTW Grade 12 Sa-Hali secondary student Alysha Muzio looks ahead to an uncertain future now that graduations are on hold. “Ever since I was a little kid, graduating [and] prom has always been my goal, my big thing to look forward to,” she said.
‘IT’S UPSETTING’ Many in the class of 2020 have been looking forward to graduation for years, but Kamloops high school students who spoke to KTW see the bigger picture
NEWS/A11
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