B.C.’s top doctor says the number of COVID-19 cases among school-aged children has gone up only marginally since kids returned to the classroom in September.
Kids still make up a low percentage, under 10 per cent, of all cases of COVID-19 in the province, Dr. Bonnie Henry said Monday.
Children under age 10 represent 10 per cent of the population, but only five per cent of positive cases are people in this age range, she said.
There have been no deaths in people under age 19, no critical care admissions, and less than one per cent of these cases have required hospitalization.
“What we’re not seeing is schools amplifying transmission in the community,” Henry said.
There have been 50 schools with COVID-19 exposure events as of Oct. 1.
Testing among children has gone way up since students returned to the classroom. There has been a four-fold increase in tests for those between the ages of five and 12. Testing among aged 13 to 18 has doubled. Only seven in 1,000 tests among school-aged kids are COVID-19 positive.
“We have seen an increase (in cases in school-aged children), but it has levelled off and it’s not been a large increase,” Henry said.
— With files from Simon Little and The Canadian Press