B.C. Interior Health reported a confirmed case of COVID-19 at J.A. Laird Elementary School on September 14th. Administration at Laird declined to comment for this story, as did School District #6 (SD6) Superintendent Karen Shipka. It remains unclear if the confirmed case will alter the school’s operating plan going forward.
SD6’s current protocol for when there is a confirmed case is as follows: “If a student, staff or other individual who has been in a school is a confirmed case of COVID-19 through testing or investigation (i.e. case finding), the local health authority will initiate contact tracing to determine how they were infected and who else may have been at risk of infection. If there was a potential exposure at a school (i.e.the confirmed case attended school when they may have been potentially infectious), the health authority will work with the school 29 administrators to understand who may have been exposed, and to determine what actions should be taken, including identifying if other students or staff are sick (case finding) or have been exposed and should monitor for symptoms or self-isolate. If there was no potential exposure at the school (i.e.the confirmed case did not attend school when they may have been potentially infectious), the health authority will not notify the school administrator.”
Interior Health’s COVID-19 protocol: “We begin the process of contact tracing to determine how the person was infected and who they were in close contact with; we identify and notify close contacts who may be at an increased risk, and advise them to self isolate and monitor for symptoms for 14 days; we work closely with the school and school district throughout the case and contact tracing process to maintain close communication with the school community. Interior Health determines close contacts of individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 using specific criteria, based on likelihood of transmission.”
