Students might not need to stay home from school if a family member has COVID-19: B.C.'s top doctor

With all B.C. students returning to class Monday, parents might be wondering what they should do if someone in the household has COVID-19.

On Friday, before the full return to class, B.C.'s top doctor was asked about these protocols. Dr. Bonnie Henry said whether a student goes to school depends on if they're exhibiting COVID-like symptoms.

"This has been a really challenging thing for parents all along. Is it COVID? Should I keep them home? Is it that runny nose that's been going on for a long time? Those decisions right now will continue to be those challenging ones," Henry said Friday.

"I would say, if in doubt, keep your child home right now."

But the decision might look a little different for kids who don't have symptoms, even if they live with someone who has COVID-19.

"We are still allowing children to go to school in those settings and to monitor very carefully," Henry said.

"If there's really sick people in the house, it may be up to families to make those decisions about whether they want to keep children home."

A strain on B.C.'s testing capacity means fully vaccinated adults who are exhibiting mild symptoms may not be able to confirm they have the disease. Instead, they are simply asked to assume they have COVID-19 and self-isolate. 

Henry reiterated that all children who can get vaccinated should, adding that the highly transmissible Omicron variant is impacting younger people.

"There is good protection even after dose one. It helps," Henry said. "So that is important to get children protected from getting sick from this."

All students were able to return to class Monday after a one-week delay following Christmas break. Children of front-line workers and students with special needs returned to class last week as teachers and staff prepared to implement more COVID-19 safety measures.

Even so, some parents have decided to keep their kids home to see how the return to class impacts COVID-19 case counts in the province.

B.C. is one of only four provinces and territories continuing in-person learning, while other parts of the country moved to remote learning.