The long-warned-about flu seems to have made its way to BC health facilities.
Interior Health lists 11 outbreaks at care facilities within the region. 2 involve gastrointestinal illness and 9 involve respiratory illness. Respiratory infections are spread by coughs or sneezes and can be as a direct result of the flu.
David Lloyd Jones Home is the lone Kelowna care centre on the list. While Westview Place and Haven Hill Care Centre in Penticton, Gateby and Down's Residence in Vernon, and McKinney Place in Oliver are also listed under a respiratory illness outbreak.
You can check for current outbreak locations on Interior Health's website. Visitors to sites with outbreaks are asked to postpone their visit to a later date. Sites with outbreaks also post written notices at the entrance and contact family members directly.
Information gathered from Interior Health showed 271 confirmed cases of the flu as of December 30th. But that number can't be entirely accurate because of the amount of people who stay home and aren't tested by a doctor.
For more information about GI and RI illnesses visit the Norovirus Health File and FluSeason at www.healthlinkbc.ca.