VANCOUVER -- Two schools in B.C.'s Lower Mainland are closing for weeks following exposures to COVID-19, health officials said Thursday.
In a news release, Fraser Health announced the Abbotsford School District is closing Centennial Park Elementary for the duration of spring break "due to operational considerations" posed by its exposure.
Bibleway Christian Academy, a private school in Surrey, is also voluntarily closing for spring break and two additional weeks, the health authority said.
Fraser Health said it's working closely with district officials in Abbotsford and with Bibleway to manage the separate exposures. That effort includes contact-tracing and cast management protocols.
Exposures occur when someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 attended school while infectious, while outbreaks are declared when multiple people test positive and officials believe "transmission is likely widespread within the school setting," according to the Fraser Health website.
Officials have stressed the importance of people living in the Fraser Health region to get tested quickly if they develop even mild COVID-19 symptoms.
"Please don’t wait, and book or drop by one of our collection centres," Fraser Health said.
More than 20 schools in the health authority region have recently had exposures to faster-spreading COVID-19 variants of concern, though officials have been quick to note that the variants "do not interfere with the effectiveness of vaccines, nor affect our ability to test for the virus."
Fraser Health also announced a new outbreak at Ridge Meadows Hospital on Wednesday, citing evidence of transmission in a single medicine unit.
Five patients have tested positive so far, prompting officials to temporarily close the unit to admissions. Officials said the hospital's emergency department remains open and no other areas have been impacted by the outbreak.
