Owen Canale91裸聊视频檚 unexpected good behaviour at bedtime raised a red flag with his mother Sarah.

The eight-year-old doesn91裸聊视频檛 usually go to sleep easily at night, but on Aug. 7, Sarah found him passed out in bed earlier than usual.

Then he woke up in the middle of the night with stomach cramps and a severe headache.

91裸聊视频淗is head hurt so bad he was digging his fingers into his head,91裸聊视频� says Sarah.

By the morning, Owen had begun vomiting. His family then took him to the emergency room at Nelson91裸聊视频檚 Kootenay Lake Hospital.

91裸聊视频淚t was just a very sad situation to see your child so weak. He couldn91裸聊视频檛 grasp my hand.91裸聊视频�

Owen tested positive for COVID-19, to be reported between July 1 91裸聊视频搘hen the provincial government dropped restrictions on masks and gatherings 91裸聊视频� and Aug. 12.

The Nelson area, which includes Salmo and parts of the Slocan Valley, had been largely unaffected by the pandemic in 2020. At the time there were just 53 confirmed cases, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control. But that changed in April, starting with an . In July cases surged again.

has made Nelson a provincial centre for the pandemic, with higher weekly positive tests than in Lower Mainland communities such as Abbotsford and parts of Vancouver.

The Canales are among the Nelson residents now coping with a virus that91裸聊视频檚 rapidly spreading throughout the community.

Sarah and her husband Patrick have each had two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, but Owen and his six-year-old sister Ali are too young to receive the shots.

Owen is now recovering and Ali has tested negative, but the family is still under quarantine.

91裸聊视频淚t might not be hospitalizing them, but the repercussions of the social isolation are really taking a toll on the kids,91裸聊视频� says Sarah.

91裸聊视频淎ll his friends now are isolating. The more people who can be vaccinated in our community, maybe we can stop this outbreak.91裸聊视频�

Server cough

Ostara Toews wondered if the smoke was to blame.

For weeks, Nelson91裸聊视频檚 air had become a brown haze caused by regional wildfires. Toews, a bartender at a downtown restaurant, began coughing on July 23 but initially brushed it off as a symptom of working in an outdoor patio.

She went to work the next day, but felt worse. One day later, Toews woke up too sick to leave her home.

91裸聊视频淚 just had aches and pains. My throat felt like it was on fire. My head was throbbing. And I felt like I was kind of living in that fever dream,91裸聊视频� she says.

Toews had been scheduled to receive her second jab that day. Instead, she tested positive for COVID-19 the day after that.

Meanwhile, a server at a nearby restaurant had also begun to cough.

Pauly Frost, 29, also thought the smoke was to blame for the hack he91裸聊视频檇 developed.

A headache and nausea followed, as well as a pain in the joints of his feet that made walking difficult. 91裸聊视频淚t would come in waves,91裸聊视频� says Frost. 91裸聊视频淚t sucks the energy right out of you while you try to fight it.91裸聊视频�

Frost, who had just received his second vaccine dose, tested positive one day after Toews. His partner had been double vaccinated for a week but also tested positive for COVID-19 with a milder case.

Stuck at home, Frost said he felt guilt about being off while his coworkers picked up the slack. Tourism is alive and well in Nelson, and there91裸聊视频檚 little to suggest a pandemic is underway during an evening walk around Baker Street patios.

Frost has since returned to work, but concerns about the health of those tourists, as well as the constant need to remind them about COVID-19 etiquette, has made him wonder if he should leave the industry after over a decade of being a server.

He also still thinks patrons should make their own decisions about wearing masks in public 91裸聊视频� Frost just hopes those decisions are smart ones.

91裸聊视频淚f you are feeling safe enough to go outside then you should probably wear the mask,91裸聊视频� he says. 91裸聊视频淎nd if you don91裸聊视频檛 feel safe enough you should probably stay home.91裸聊视频�

Toews has also returned to work, but is now using an inhaler for the first time in her life. While she knows Nelson91裸聊视频檚 businesses need summer tourism revenue, but thinks the provincial restrictions were lifted too soon.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 a very 91裸聊视频榙amned if you do, damned if you don91裸聊视频檛91裸聊视频� situation. Businesses need to keep going,91裸聊视频� says Toews. 91裸聊视频淲e have a beautiful town that people want to come and visit, but I don91裸聊视频檛 think that it91裸聊视频檚 been conducive to helping ease those numbers.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淚 feel like I91裸聊视频檓 in Hell91裸聊视频�

The pandemic has not just been limited to Nelson.

Forty minutes west, in Castlegar, the city has had 88 cases since July 4, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control.

Robyn Lenfesty is one of those cases. The 29-year-old was forced to spend eight days on oxygen at Trail91裸聊视频檚 Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital after catching the virus from her partner, who also tested positive.

In the hospital, Lenfesty watched nurses working double shifts and listened to other patients suffering.

91裸聊视频淚 was laying there thinking like, I feel like I91裸聊视频檓 in Hell, I can91裸聊视频檛 imagine what they91裸聊视频檙e going through.91裸聊视频�

Lenfesty wasn91裸聊视频檛 vaccinated before she became ill. She says now she regrets that, and has signed up to get her first dose now that she91裸聊视频檚 back home.

91裸聊视频淗onestly I just feel really grateful that it91裸聊视频檚 over. I91裸聊视频檓 going to be more careful from now on and do my best to help, being vaccinated and making sure I91裸聊视频檓 still wearing masks and socially distancing.

91裸聊视频淚 hope other people also do the same thing and things can go back to normal one day.91裸聊视频�

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| tyler.harper@nelsonstar.com
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