The possibility of a COVID-19 superspreader event at a Chilliwack B.C. dance school is raising questions about how and when to isolate school cohorts amid possible exposures.
A COVID-19 superspreader event is when a person infects a large number of people at one location.
So far, 30 people have tested positive after an outbreak at Capella Dance Academy.
“This is certainly a significant outbreak and the good news is that all the cases associated with the outbreak have been identified and are isolating, as are their close contacts,” Dr. Elizabeth Brodkin, Fraser Health’s chief medical health officer, told reporters Tuesday.
“There are a number of exposures in the local schools but I want to emphasize those are only exposures, meaning that a person infected with COVID-19 was present in the school during their infectious period. So far there has been no transmission beyond the dance studio into the schools.”
Exposure and positive cases have been linked to 13 schools in Chilliwack.
News of the possible superspreader event has renewed calls to isolate school learning cohorts sooner rather than later.
Parent Coralyn Gehl gold Global News with the recent increase of exposures and cases in Chilliwack those in the same cohort should isolate immediately, instead of waiting for instructions from health officials, which can sometimes take days.
“If a child is asked to self-isolate, any sibling they have in school or daycare needs to be self-isolating as well,” she said.
Despite rumours, Fraser Health said it is not seeing contact tracing delays of seven to ten days at this time.
It confirmed there were 2,315 active cases in the Fraser Health region on Wednesday with 29,000 possible contacts identified.
Nearly 350 Fraser Health and provincial health contact tracers were working in the region.
“Large groups of people exercising together, whether that’s in a gym or a similar setting, does provide a higher-risk setting for COVID-19 spread and therefore we will be looking closely at these settings over the coming days and weeks,” Brodkin added.