COVID-19 exposures in Lower Mainland schools declining along with B.C. case count
The number of schools on COVID-19 exposure lists in B.C.'s Lower Mainland continued to decline this week, reaching its lowest level since early October.
The drop was driven by Fraser Health, which continues to account for the vast majority of school exposures in the Lower Mainland. There were 104 schools on the health authority's list as of Friday, down from 123 the previous week.
CTV News Vancouver tracking of COVID-19 exposures in schools in the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health authorities.
Vancouver Coastal Health had just 11 schools on its list, and two of them are located on B.C.'s Central Coast, well outside the Lower Mainland.
Schools are added to the lists when a student or staff member tests positive and officials believe there is a risk of ongoing transmission to other members of the school community.
Fraser Health removes schools from its list two weeks after the last exposure date, while Vancouver Coastal Health removes schools four weeks after the last exposure date.
Exposure notifications are not posted for every case of COVID-19 associated with a school community, and schools are not added to the health authority lists until after close contacts have been notified directly by public health officials.
Earlier this week, health officials announced details of the province's plan to vaccinate children ages five to 11 against COVID-19.
According to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, children under 12 account for about 20 per cent of B.C.'s COVID-19 cases, despite making up roughly 10 per cent of the total population.
Nearly 3,000 school exposure notifications had been issued at 835 different schools across the province from the start of the fall semester to Nov. 6, according to Henry.
About 12 per cent of schools in the province saw clusters of cases with in-school transmission, which the provincial health officer framed as evidence of the system working as intended.
"In 88 per cent of our schools across this province, we have not had any transmission events," she said at the time. "I think that's good news … It tells us what's happening in the schools is working to support children."
The median number of cases associated with clusters has increased this school year, going to three from two, which officials blamed on the Delta variant.
Henry also noted that a recent B.C. Centre for Disease Control investigation of school clusters found that most coronavirus transmission among school-aged children happens in the community or at home, rather than at school.
The declining number of school exposure notifications in the Lower Mainland comes alongside declining infection numbers across the province. On Friday, the rolling seven-day average for new cases confirmed in B.C. dropped to 352, the lowest it's been since Aug. 8.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Andrew Weichel
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
WATCH LIVE As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.
Disappointment widespread over budget's proposed $200-month disability benefit funding
Advocacy groups across Canada are expressing widespread disappointment about the amount of funding earmarked in the 2024 federal budget for the long-awaited Canada Disability Benefit.