Here are the top stories of the week.
Passenger numbers drop at Kelowna International Airport as coronavirus grips globe
Traffic through Kelowna International Airport has dropped as the global epidemic from the novel coronavirus takes hold.
Sam Samaddar, the airport’s director, said traffic through the airport has decreased by 3.8 per cent when comparing January 2019 to January 2020.
Samaddar blamed part of the passenger decline through the airport on the spread of the virsus, which has infected more than 100,000 people around the world and killed more than 3,800 people.
Surrey couple had abusive relationship prior to woman’s West Kelowna murder
Less than two months before she was found beaten and dying in a blood-spattered West Kelowna hotel room, Rama Gauravarapu called the police.
Her common-law spouse, Tejwant Danjou, had allegedly assaulted her on May 25, 2018, prompting a response from RCMP to Gauravarapu’s Surrey home.
No charges were filed as a result of the incident.
The next time Gauravarapu attempted to contact the police, she was lying on the floor of that hotel room, calling out for help from a hotel employee who had come to check on a noise complaint.
Second presumptive case of COVID-19 in Interior Health
Interior Health has its second presumptive case of COVID-19.
This comes as provincial health authority announced nine new cases of the novel coronavirus across B.C. on Saturday, bringing the total to 73.
39 new cases bring Canada’s COVID-19 count to at least 288 https://t.co/vunW7oOLGe
— Kelowna Capital News (@KelownaCapNews) March 15, 2020
Toilet paper frenzy occurs outside Kelowna Costco on Wednesday morning
It was a toilet paper frenzy outside the Kelowna Costco on Wednesday morning (Mar. 11).
Dozens of people were seen with as much as ten packages of toilet paper in their shopping carts as they left the building at around 10 a.m.
#Kelowna residents continue to ‘panic shop’ over COVID-19 concerns https://t.co/DnlN9Gwjq6
— Kelowna Capital News (@KelownaCapNews) March 15, 2020
Kelowna airport issues advisory after passenger tests positive for COVID-19
Kelowna International Airport (YLW) is reaching out to passengers who may have travelled aboard a flight from Vancouver with a passenger who has since tested positive for COVID-19.
The airport was advised by the Public Health Agency on March 15 that a guest who flew aboard a March 10 flight tested positive for the virus.
Guests in rows 10 to 16 of WestJet flight WS 3326 from Vancouver International Airport on March 10 are considered close contacts at risk of exposure and are asked to immediately self-isolate.
Two years jail for Kelowna man caught with nearly 30,000 child porn files
A Kelowna man convicted of possessing over 27,000 photos and 1,000 videos containing child pornography was sentenced to two years in prison followed by three years of probation in a provincial courtroom in Kelowna on March 13.