Merritt’s Coldwater Pub confident in cleanliness after COVID-19 exposure over the weekend

MERRITT, BC – The Coldwater Hotel is an institution in Merritt. It’s been open for over 110 years and survived the last pandemic back in 1918. So when Krystyna Powell, restaurant manager found out there was a possible COVID-19 exposure at the hotel over the weekend, the news was hard to fathom.

“I don’t know what to say. I think it’s all raw, still. It’s really raw,” Powell told CFJC Today. “I hope it doesn’t hurt business. I hope people aren’t afraid.”

According to a news release, Interior Health is advising anyone who was at the Coldwater Pub between 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm Saturday (Sep. 19) to self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19. Interior Health notes that contract tracing is underway, based on the contact tracing information the hotel gathered from customers.

“We sent all of our applications of sign-ins to the pub and restaurant so [Interior Health] can have the list of people, so they can inform them that they may or may not have been in an environment where COVID is,” Powell says.

The possible exposure to the novel coronavirus in such a well-known establishment has put the community on alert. Deputy Mayor Adam Etchart says this situation can serve as a lesson for locals.

“It’s a constant reminder that we have to be vigilant and very careful with our actions,” Etchart says. “We can’t let our guard down. We can’t have the fatigue of wanting to congregate. We have to be vigilant and concerned that this disease is active; if not for myself, then for other people around me.”

Anyone who was at the pub when the exposure took place is being cautioned to self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19. The Coldwater Hotel remains open. Powell says she’s confident in the job staff has done in keeping themselves and their customers safe.

“We were spic and span, to begin with, so I’m not afraid of our cleanliness at all,” Powell says. “The Coldwater wants everyone feeling safe. We’re all safe. Nobody has any symptoms, we’re back working – it never stopped us from working actually, it just shook us up a little bit, but we’ve all regained our strength, and we welcome to see you any day of the week.”