B.C. elementary school sends out two letters to parents about COVID exposures

The principal of Capilano Elementary in North Vancouver is informing parents about positive COVID cases at the school.

Jeeniece Chand sent out a letter to families on Friday saying there were eight positive cases at the school.

She then sent out another letter on Sunday to parents saying more families have come forward to say their child has also tested positive for COVID-19.

2:02 Growing concerns about outbreaks at B.C. schools

Two class-wide notification letters have also been sent from Vancouver Coastal Health with directions to self-monitor; close contacts will receive instructions directly from the health authority.

Chand said the school is also bringing in enhanced measures to help stop any spread of the virus, which include arranging desks into rows, facing forward and creating more space.

Two outbreaks were declared in Lower Mainland schools this week.

Chilliwack’s Promontory Elementary moved to remote learning on Wednesday after at least 20 cases were detected in staff and students, and on Friday, Fraser Health declared an outbreak at Maple Ridge Christian School, where 32 cases cropped up.

2:20 British Columbia grapples with increase in COVID-19 cases among children

With more than 80 per cent of eligible people now fully vaccinated in B.C., the province’s cases are increasingly being diagnosed in younger children.

Children under the age of nine have doubled from nine per cent of cases at the start of September to 18 per cent of cases this week. In each of the last three reporting days, more than 100 new cases have involved kids nine or younger.

-with files from Simon Little