Image courtesy of the Royal Inland Hospital Foundation

By Dylana Kneeshaw

COVID-19 COMMUNICATION

New videos from RIH Foundation highlight reality of COVID-19 diagnosis for young adults

Sep 29, 2020 | 4:45 PM

KAMLOOPS — In order to get through to a younger audience, the Royal Inland Hospital Foundation has come forward with a visual telling of COVID-19 realities.

As part of a new messaging campaign, RIH Foundation CEO Heidi Coleman says they’ve gathered video testimonials from young adults who had COVID-19, and are still recovering.

“I think that the videos are very touching, they’re very honest,” said Coleman. “As these two people, well, three people are.”

The series of videos features two former COVID-19 patients in their twenties — Harry Cook and Emma Christy. Both reside in the local region. They share what it was like to have the virus and how there can be long term effects.

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“I checked around with a few of the doctors in town and spoke to them and we had heard about these two young people who were former patients and they had interesting stories,” explains Coleman. “They were wonderful. The minute we called them they said they’d love to help.”

Throughout July and August, health officials tracked a noticeable amount of COVID-19 cases in young people aged 20 to 30. Interior Health Medical Health Officer Dr. Carol Fenton says that trend is continuing into the fall.

“Young adults is the age group/demographic where we’re seeing the most transmission still,” she notes, “and we just need them — along with everyone else — to adhere or stick to the prevention measures that we’re having to follow until we have a vaccine for this.”

To combat the summer spike, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry worked with various hospital foundations to get the message out that young adults are not immune to the virus.

Coleman says the RIH Foundation wanted to highlight why its important to follow COVID-19 protocols, and the third video features Logan Stankoven of the Kamloops Blazers. While Stankoven does not have COVID-19, the hope is having a well-known 17-year-old advocate for safe practices will resonate with others similar in age.

“This is up to us to control,” says Coleman. “It’s not like when the forest fires come and you see a wave of smoke. It’s not the second wave that’s coming and we’re not involved. We can control this and we have to work together as a community and say, ‘We’re going to flatten this.'”

Heading into Thanksgiving and winter holidays, health officials are urging British Columbians to think of the big picture and be adamant with prevention efforts.