Work is not over for contract tracers monitoring COVID-19 cases in the Tri-Cities where schools continue to be hit with exposures.
Fraser Health is investigating COVID-19 exposures at five Port Coquitlam schools and two Coquitlam elementary schools.
The cases are the latest reported in the last week, and are due to people recently testing positive for coronavirus who were on school grounds in recent days.
The cases are all from early in the week, with letters having gone out to families. They indicate that coronavirus is still circulating even though school exposures and case counts are down in the Tri-Cities.
Eleven Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, and Port Moody public schools — and one francophone public school in Port Coquitlam and a Coquitlam independent school — remain on the Fraser Health school exposure website for exposures in the week of May 10 to 14, which are within the 14-day incubation period.
The information comes as provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Premier John Horgan announce a phased-approach to opening up the province if vaccinations continue to increase and case counts and hospitalizations decline.
Here’s the list of schools flagged for COVID-19 last week:
Port Coquitlam
Citadel middle: May 17, 18, 19 and 20
Pitt River middle: May 17
Minnekhada middle: May 19 and 20
Central elementary: May 18, 19, 20 and 21
Kilmer elementary: May 17 and 18
Coquitlam
Leigh elementary: May 17, 18
RC MacDonald elementary: May 17, 18
WHAT IS AN EXPOSURE?
A school “exposure” indicates a single person with a lab-confirmed COVID-19 infection attended school during their infectious period.
A school “cluster,” on the other hand, indicates possible school-based transmission with two or more lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 attending school while infectious.
Finally, an “outbreak” at a school means “multiple individuals with lab-confirmed COVID-19 infection” and that “transmission is likely widespread.”
There haven’t been any outbreaks in School District 43.
