45 Lower Mainland schools dealing with recent COVID-19 exposures as school year comes to a close

Vancouver -

At the end of the final full week of the school year in B.C., there are still 45 schools in the Lower Mainland on local COVID-19 exposure lists.

Schools are added to the lists when someone in the school community tests positive for the coronavirus and has been present at the school during their infectious period. A school remains on the list until two weeks after its last exposure date.

As of Friday, there were 10 schools on the Vancouver Coastal Health list and 35 on the Fraser Health list. 

That's a significant decline from the 238 schools that were dealing with recent exposures when CTV News Vancouver began tracking the number on a weekly basis in mid-May.

Still, the 45 school exposures in the Lower Mainland over the last two weeks show that the coronavirus is still circulating in the community, even as B.C.'s daily caseload drops to lows not seen since last summer. 

The preponderance of exposure notices during the 2020-21 school year was a source of stress for teachers, parents and students, even as studies showed the number of people actually contracting the coronavirus in schools was low. 

Earlier this month, provincial health officials announced that students and staff will see a "near normal" return to class in the fall. 

All students are expected to be back in the classroom for full-time, in-person instruction and the cohort system is expected to come to an end. Guidance on mask-wearing in schools will be confirmed later in the summer.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Penny Daflos