7 outbreaks declared at provincial schools

Twenty-three more cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the past four days in the region served by Interior Health, including an outbreak at Vernon’s Clarence Fulton high school.

That brings the total number of people infected since the start of the pandemic to 582 across IH.

Thirty cases are considered active, with the people affected now in isolation and recovering at home. One person is being treated for COVID-19 in hospital.

Across B.C., 549 new cases were confirmed between Friday and Tuesday. That includes a one-day record, of 170 cases, between Friday and Saturday.

However, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control says the high number of recent cases over the Thanksgiving Day long weekend is due, in part, to the clearing of a testing backlog.

“While this has meant an increase in the overall number of confirmed positive cases, the active cases and percentage positive remain stable,” reads part of a statement issued Tuesday by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

There were at least seven school exposures reported over the Thanksgiving long weekend, including in Surrey (Sinclair elementary, Ray Shepherd elementary and Woodland elementary), Vancouver (Tyee elementary), West Vancouver (Ridgeview elementary), Mission (Hatzic middle) and Vernon (Clarence Fulton Secondary).

According to B.C. Centre for Disease Control data, there have been 360 children aged 10 and under who have tested COVID-19 positive, and 613 aged between 10 and 19. In the past four days, 45 kids under 10 have tested positive across all of B.C.

There were also two fresh outbreaks in long-term care facilities in Vancouver Coastal Health – at Yaletown House long termcare facility and Weinberg Residence.

There are now 20 active outbreaks in health-care facilities.

Henry said that 386 staff at health-care facilities have contracted the disease so far. None of the five people who died over the Thanksgiving long weekend were in long-term care facilities.

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