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WEDNESDAY
APRIL 8, 2020 | Volume 33 No. 28
TODAY’S WEATHER
FIND A COPY OF THE BIG EDITION’S AUTISM ISSUE INSERTED IN TODAY’S KTW
FINANCIAL CRUNCH
CHIPPING IN TO HELP
Pandemic taking its toll on city’s bottom line
Kamloops Makerspace creating face shields for frontline workers
Sunny and warmer High 14 C Low 1 C
NEWS/A15
NEWS/A3
‘THIS IS HERE. IT IS CONTAGIOUS’
City bracing for flooding
Keith Elliott talks about his battle with COVID-19
The City of Kamloops is preparing for a situation in which it may need two emergency operations centres — one to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and another to respond to flooding. The River Forecast Centre will release its latest projections on Wednesday and the data is expected to show snowpack levels in the region still well above normal depths. As such, the city is prepping for potentially historic level flooding, with an eye to 1972 levels, when the North Thompson River flooded parts of Westsyde and city parks became swamps. Anyone who has walked along the South Thompson River in Riverside Park and
MICHAEL POTESTIO
STAFF REPORTER
michael@kamloopsthisweek.com
A
Kamloops man who contracted COVID-19, leading to a stint in the intensive-care unit at Royal Inland Hospital, is feeling better than he has in weeks — but he is warning people not to take the virus lightly. Keith Elliott has some residual symptoms, including a cough, fatigue and soreness in his chest, but is otherwise feeling better almost a month after falling ill.
“I’m definitely recovering,” Elliott said. He has been cleared to return to work next week. Though his recovery is a good sign during an immense public health threat, the 48-year-old father of two doesn’t want people getting the impression the virus is over and done with. “I think we’re [as a community] going to have to isolate for some time yet,” he said. “So many other people can get it still. I don’t think this is over by a long shot.” Elliott first noticed his symptoms on March 12. A carpenter for
JESSICA WALLACE
STAFF REPORTER
jessica@kamloopsthisweek.com
Keith Elliott is on the mend back home after spending time in Royal Inland Hospital’s ICU with COVID-19. Wife Dana also tested positive, but both have been cleared to soon return to work.
School District 58 (Nicola-Similkameen), he commutes daily from Kamloops to Merritt for work and went home sick that day feeling feverish, with headaches and chest pain. “Pulled the pin pretty much right in the morning and I quickly deteriorated. By the
time I drove home, it [had] hit me pretty hard, pretty quick,” Elliott said. Thinking he would be well enough to return to work following the weekend, Elliott’s symptoms didn’t improve. His wife, Dana, who works at RIH, called 811 for assistance and
was told it was likely the flu as the family had not travelled outside the country. By Monday, Dana decided to take Keith to the hospital, where he had a chest X-ray and was tested for COVID19, the results of which came back positive. See ELLIOTTS, A6
looked at the high water marker will have seen just how high the water rose that year, the second-highest notch on the rock statue. “It’s going to be potentially a very challenging year,” the city’s utility services manager, Greg Wightman, told KTW. City CAO David Trawin said a report on freshet will go to council next week. In all likelihood, he said, the city will experience some flooding this spring. The extent, however, remains the bigger question. Wightman said there is “high risk of some very high waters this year,” estimated to be a one-in-20year flood, potentially approaching 1972 levels, he said. See CITY ADVICE, A7
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