Three Greater Victoria schools are now dealing with active COVID-19 clusters, according to Island Health.
Students and staff who attended Ecole Poirier Elementary in Sooke on Sept. 16 and 17, or Sept. 20 to 22 may have been exposed to the virus. On Sept. 17, 20 and 21, those at Sir James Douglas Elementary in Victoria were at risk, as were students and staff at Ecole Victor-Brodeur in Esquimalt on Sept. 7, 8, 13, 16 and 17.
A cluster, Island Health says, is when there are “two or more” confirmed COVID-19 cases within a 14-day period, with evidence transmission occurred at school. Outbreak status is reserved for when “exceptional measures” are required to prevent further transmission within the school.
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There are 10 active clusters in the Island Health region as of Sept. 27, none of which have been upgraded to outbreaks.
On Sept. 21, the province announced it would be reversing an earlier decision not to report exposures, or single cases, of COVID-19 in schools this year, after significant concern from parents and educators. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the new reporting system would be in place by the weekend of Sept. 25 and 26, but has since pushed it back.
In lieu of provincial reporting, two B.C. moms have been crowdsourcing exposures in schools on their site, B.C. School COVID Tracker. They’ve reported dozens of exposures in Greater Victoria since the school year started.
READ ALSO: B.C. parents crowdsourcing COVID-19 school exposures in lieu of provincial information
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