Some staff and students at École Qayqayt Elementary School are being asked to monitor themselves for symptoms of COVID-19 after another exposure at the school.
The latest exposure, published on the Fraser Health school exposures site today (Nov. 2), happened Oct. 25 and 26. A self-monitoring letter sent out to some members of the school community (dated Nov. 1) asks them to watch for symptoms until Nov. 9.
The letter says staff and students who don't develop symptoms can continue to attend school. It asks them to continue to practise good hand-washing, maintain physical distance, keep social circles small and "stay away from crowded public spaces and places where you can not easily separate yourself from others."
The newest exposure is at least the ninth recorded at the downtown New Westminster school in the 2021/22 school year. It follows 13 days after a previous string of exposures that ended on Oct. 12, when at least five exposures occurred in a two-week period.
An "exposure" means that someone who has since tested positive for COVID-19 was in the school during their potentially infectious period on the date or dates in question, and that other people may be at risk of having come in contact with the virus. Health officials do not publish the number of cases involved, so it's not known whether the dates involve one person or multiple cases.
The exact number of cases seen in schools is not made public, but recently revealed information showed that Fraser Health (the region that spans from Burnaby to Boston Bar) saw 2,009 school-associated cases of COVID-19 in the first six weeks of the school year. Of those, 210 cases (10.5%) were staff and the rest students.
In the same time period, health officials identified 104 “clusters” in Fraser Health schools. The B.C. Centre for Disease Control defines a “cluster” as “two or more cases that were reported within a 14-day period where transmission was likely within the school or where transmission in the classroom setting can not be ruled out.”
Of those clusters, 22 (or 21%) involved staff; staff were the “index case” in 12 of those clusters (11.5% of the total). The remainder were students.
The Qayqayt exposures were never publicly defined as a "cluster." The province says it is working on a cluster reporting system that will be included in future monthly situation reports from the BCCDC.
So far in the 2021/21 school year, eight of the New Westminster school district's 12 schools have seen exposures, along with two independent schools (Al-Hidayah School and Urban Academy).
COVID EXPOSURES IN NEW WESTMINSTER SCHOOLS
Here’s what has transpired in the 2021/22 school year so far in New Westminster:
- École Qayqayt Elementary: Sept. 8 (reported by B.C. School COVID Tracker; predated change to Fraser Health notifications)
- École Qayqayt Elementary: Sept. 20, 21, 22 (reported by B.C. School COVID Tracker; predated change to Fraser Health notifications)
- Urban Academy (independent): Sept. 22, 23, 24 (reported on Fraser Health site Sept. 29)
- Herbert Spencer Elementary: Sept. 21 (reported on Fraser Health site Oct. 1)
- Lord Kelvin Elementary: Sept. 24 (reported on Fraser Health site Sept. 29)
- Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary: Sept. 21, 22, 23, 24 (reported on Fraser Health site Oct. 1; B.C. School COVID Tracker confirms this is at least three separate cases)
- New Westminster Secondary: Sept. 22, 23, 24 (reported on Fraser Health site Oct. 3)
- Lord Kelvin Elementary: Sept. 22, 23, 28 (dates added on Fraser Health site Oct. 3)
- New Westminster Secondary: Sept. 28 (date added on Fraser Health site Oct. 4)
- Urban Academy (independent): Sept. 27, 28 (dates added on Fraser Health site Oct. 1)
- Glenbrook Middle School: Sept. 25, 26, 28, 29, Oct. 1 (listed on Fraser Health site Oct. 7)
- École Qayqayt Elementary School: Sept. 27, 28, 29, Oct. 1 (dates added on Fraser Health site Oct. 7)
- Skwo:wech Elementary School: Sept. 23, 24, 27, 28, 29 (listed on Fraser Health site Oct. 7)
- École Qayqayt Elementary School: Oct. 4,5 (listed on Fraser Health site Oct. 9; B.C. School COVID Tracker confirms this is at least two separate exposures)
- New Westminster Secondary: Oct. 4, 5, 6 (dates added on Fraser Health site Oct. 9)
- École Qayqayt Elementary School: Oct. 5, 6, 7, 8 (dates not yet added on Fraser Health site; B.C. School COVID Tracker confirms at least two separate exposures involving this date range, with emails sent Oct. 11)
- École Qayqayt Elementary School: Oct. 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 (separate case from above; one full class sent into isolation)
- Fraser River Middle School: Oct. 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15 (reported on Fraser Health site Oct. 19)
- Lord Kelvin Elementary School: Oct. 14, 15 (reported on Fraser Health site Oct. 20)
- New Westminster Secondary School: Oct. 15, 18 (added on Fraser Health site Oct. 22)
- New Westminster Secondary School: Oct. 13, 19, 20 (added on Fraser Health site Oct. 23)
- Urban Academy (independent): Oct. 18, 19 (added on Fraser Health site Oct. 24)
- New Westminster Secondary School: Oct. 21 (added on Fraser Health site Oct. 27)
- Al-Hidayah (independent): Oct. 18, 20, 21, 22 (added on Fraser Health site Oct. 27)
- Al-Hidayah (independent): Oct. 25 (added on Fraser Health site Oct. 31)
- École Qayqayt Elementary School: Oct. 25, 26 (added on Fraser Health site Nov. 2)
WHERE TO FIND OUT ABOUT NEW WESTMINSTER SCHOOL EXPOSURES
Fraser Health
New Westminster school exposures will be listed at Fraser Health’s school exposures webpage.
B.C. School COVID Tracker
This parent-run database uses information provided directly by parents and verified by official health authority letters. There's a searchable database online.
Exposure Watch
This site, created by New Westminster parent Gabriel Bauman, provides a listing of COVID-19 "hotspots" in B.C. schools, as well as a search function to find out school-specific information. Parents can also sign up for exposure alerts and report exposures. (Note that the listings may include both confirmed and unconfirmed exposures; they are identified as such, with confirmed exposures including documentation.)
Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
Email Julie, jmaclellan@newwestrecord.ca.
