School COVID cases on the rise

School exposures to COVID-19 piled up in B.C. over the weekend.

On Sunday, the principal of Sherwood Park Elementary in North Vancouver told parents that there had been another exposure at the school — within the attached North Shore Child Care Centre — and that the centre would close for two weeks, effective today.

The principal of St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary in North Vancouver also contacted parents over the weekend to report an exposure. John Campbell told parents he was not able to disclose which class the exposure was within, adding that Vancouver Coastal Health would be directly in touch with those potentially exposed.

Neither of those schools are recorded on the Vancouver Coastal Health school exposures list as of Sunday afternoon. In Surrey, notification letters were sent to families at Cedar Hills Elementary (Oct. 13), Lena Shaw Elementary (Oct. 5,6,7, 8 and 9), Westerman Elementary (Oct. 5, 6 and 7) and Johnston Heights Secondary (Oct. 9) over the weekend.

In Langley, notification letters were sent to families at

H.D. Stafford Middle School (Oct. 9) and Brookswood Secondary School (Oct. 5, 13, 15 and 16), while parents at Burnaby North Secondary were told of an exposure event. There are at least 75 active exposures in schools across the province. There are no school exposures with the Island Health Authority, seven within the Northern Health region and one in Interior Health.

Fraser Health did update its school exposure list with the exposures reported over the weekend.