School staffer tests positive for virus

An independent school in B.C.’s Fraser Health region has suspended classes after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. The person held a variety of roles at the school, including teacher, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said at a news conference Thursday.

But Henry allayed concerns about the possible effect on children, adding that she spoke about the possibility of a positive COVID-19 test at a school when they first reopened.

“This is not unexpected,” she said. “When we went into opening up the in-classroom schools at the beginning of June we were paying attention to this and that it was very possible somebody would bring the virus to the school setting with them.”

The positive case doesn’t change the province’s risk assessment of opening schools, Henry added. She has previously discussed the low COVID-19 transmission rates among children as part of the evidence for reopening schools.

British Columbia announced eight new cases of COVID-19 and no new deaths on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases to 2,783.

The province has had one death from COVID-19 in the past 12 days.

There were no new confirmed cases of the virus in the Island Health region, where there have been a total of 130 cases. Of those, 125 people have recovered and five people have died. There are no known active cases on Vancouver Island.

Health Minister Adrian Dix also announced that staff at all 501 senior care homes and other health-care facilities in B.C. are now working at single sites, months after Henry issued an order to do so.