As Dr. Bonnie Henry pleads with residents to stay in in their communities, several schools in the Coquitlam area are dealing with COVID-19 exposures post-spring break.
Fraser Health is contact tracing and sending exposure notices home to parents in nine schools — up from four reported previously — in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, including two independent schools hit by the coronavirus, with many of the schools reporting more than one day of exposure.
Four of the hard-hit schools are high schools, including Archbishop Carney, an independent school, Riverside and Terry Fox in Port Coquitlam and Heritage Woods in Port Moody.
The sharp rise in school exposures in the first week back after spring break mirrors growing case counts in Tri-Cities and B.C., as health officials grapple with variants — now at 50% of cases — amidst a mass vaccination campaign.
Monday, Dr. Henry pleaded with British Columbians to stay close to home to avoid spreading the virus, which hit 3,289 cases over the weekend. "This is, I don't need to say, our third wave," Dr. Henry said.
Fraser Health confirmed to the Tri-City News that it is handling COVID-19 variants of concern the same way as the original virus, including case management of cases in school.
“Because some COVID-19 variants may spread more easily, it is even more important to continue to follow the health and safety measures in place in schools,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
MASK WEARING RAMPS UP IN SCHOOLS BUT SOME EXCEPTIONS
School District 43, meanwhile, has put in place stricter mask wearing procedures, as required by provincial health order although there are some instances where someone may not have to wear one.
According to information provided by SD43, all K to 12 staff are required to wear a mask or a face shield (in which case a mask should be worn in addition to the face shield). As well, school staff providing services must wear masks when the service can’t be provided from behind a physical barrier.
All students in Grades 4 to 12 are required to wear a mask or a face shield (in which case a non-medical mask should be worn in addition to the face shield) indoors in schools and on school buses — both within and outside of their learning group. And students in Grades K to 3 are encouraged to wear a mask indoors in schools and on school buses; however, they are not required to do so, according to the provincial health order.
For the younger students, mask wearing remains a personal or family/caregiver choice for these students, and “their choices must be respected,” the order states.
There may be occasions when staff or students don’t have to wear a mask: Exceptions include people who cannot tolerate wearing a mask for health or behavioural reasons, are unable to put on or remove a mask without the assistance of another person or, in some cases, temporary removal is permitted when someone wearing a mask must be identified.
Other exceptions include:
• removing a mask temporarily for an educational activity that can’t be performed while wearing a mask (such as playing a wind instrument) though masks must be worn while singing
• engaging in high-intensity physical activity or if a person is eating or drinking, or behind a barrier
• providing a service to a person with a disability or diverse ability, such as in cases where someone has a hearing impairment where visual cues, facial expressions and or lip reading and movements are important
— with files from Nelson Bennett
As of April 13, the following schools had exposures:
COQUITLAM
Pinetree Way elementary: April 7, 8 and 9
Suwa’lkh School: April 6, 7 and 8
Queen of All Saints: April 6
PORT COQUITLAM
Terry Fox secondary: April 6, 7 and 8
Riverside secondary: April 6,7 and 8
Archbishop Carney regional secondary: March 29, 30 and 31, and April 1 and 6
Central elementary: April 6
PORT MOODY
Heritage Woods secondary: April 6, 7 and 9
Glenayre elementary: April 6
