School exposure daily numbers unavailable in B.C.

The B.C. Ministry of Health says it's unable to provide a daily total for the number of in-school exposures to COVID-19.

The ministry told Postmedia News that “providing granular data on a daily basis” for school exposures was beyond its capacity “as we focus on reducing transmission, contact tracing and education.

“Health authorities post school exposures online and we do update our modelling each month.”

The last time the government provided the number was on Nov. 5, when it was included — at 261 exposures — in the B.C. Centre for Disease Control's Nov. 12 COVID-19 monthly update.

On Nov. 17, the ministry again reported 261 exposures, adding that less than a dozen incidences provincewide had been transmitted at school.

The next monthly update with a total school-exposure number will be released in early December, covering November.

According to the CDC's weekly “situation report,” almost 10 per cent of people aged 15 to 19 who were tested had COVID-19 during the week of Nov. 15-21, the highest positivity rate of any age group in the 47th week of the pandemic.

Since the pandemic began, 18 children younger than 10 years old have been hospitalized. None have ended up in intensive care. Eleven people aged 10 to 19 have been hospitalized. Close to 1,600 people have been admitted to hospital with COVID-19 in B.C.

Each of B.C.'s five health authorities report school exposures, clusters and outbreaks within a few days of the event, while resolved exposures aren't recorded. However, there is no universal daily active school-exposure number reported or number of resolved events — as is done in health care outbreaks (which are triggered by one case.)

A popular Facebook page that tracks school exposures now lists the total number of school exposures so far in B.C. at 1,020. The B.C. School COVID Tracker Facebook page has over 37,000 followers, and organizers are working on a searchable data-only school exposure tracking site (which so far has 604 of the exposures/clusters and outbreaks uploaded).

The provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, is adamant schools and most retail businesses should remain open during the pandemic. So far, there have been three outbreaks that have led to school closures.

B.C. has exceeded the cases used by some U.S. states to order the closure of schools.

On Friday, Henry said there had been more adult-to-adult than child-to-child transmission in school settings.

“We have seen some cases, a couple of outbreaks, and a couple of cases where classes, or cohorts, have had to be sent home to self-isolate,” Henry said. “There has been, as well, a number of schools that have closed because of staff being required to self-isolate. The children have been at home in those cases, but not in isolation. So it is a relatively small percentage, given the number of children and adults in our school system.”

Of the school exposures reported on Nov. 5, just over half (139) were in elementary schools, which make up three-quarters of B.C.'s 1,940 public schools. Almost 70 per cent of all outbreaks were in the Fraser Health region.