B.C. will consider providing more information on school-based COVID-19 cases

Health Minister Adrian Dix says the province will consider providing additional information about cases of COVID-19 at B.C. schools.

B.C. school districts currently only provide information to those connected to a school where there is a test positive case of COVID-19. If there is transmission in the school environment then the province will announce it as an outbreak.

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Other jurisdictions like Ontario have chosen to post all COVID-19 cases connected to a school.

“We are going to be providing information about school extensively,” Dix said.

“If there are suggestions on how we can improve the information we give to the public, we will absolutely consider that.”

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There have been at least three cases of someone who was in a school building since Sept. 8 has tested positive for COVID-19.

An investigation is underway at Delta Secondary after someone who attended the school on Friday later tested positive for the virus. The Fraser Health Authority is conducting contact tracing and will determine if anyone at the school was in close contact with the infected person.

The news became public after a letter Delta School District letter to the school community was shared on social media.

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“What you saw in Delta is those at the school letting those who really need to know, know,” Dix said.

“There are protocols and those protocols are being followed, which I think is good. But we can always do better with the information being provided.”

A staff member at Surrey’s Panorama Ridge Secondary has also tested positive, as has a person at Johnston Heights Secondary, also in Surrey.

In Ontario, 27 out of the province’s 4,828 schools have a reported case of COVID-19.

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Ontario’s COVID-19 website is updated daily and includes how many cases are linked to schools.