At least 25 COVID-19 exposures have hit Greater Victoria schools since students started classes two weeks ago, according to the crowdsourced BC School COVID Tracker.
The tracker site is voluntarily run by two B.C. moms and has been one of the only public sources of COVID-19 data in schools this month. At the start of the school year, the province announced it would only be publicly reporting clusters and outbreaks, while exposures would be privately reported to students who were the most at risk of having contracted the virus.
An exposure is a single case, while a cluster is two or more connected cases within 14 days. An outbreak is declared when ongoing transmission of those cases is evidenced.
Following serious push back from parents and educators though, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced Tuesday (Sept. 21) they will be reintroducing an exposure notification system. It is expected to be in place by the weekend, Henry said.
READ ALSO: Concerns prompt B.C. to return to notifying schools, parents about COVID exposures
Exposures reported by the BC School COVID Tracker in the last two weeks hit 14 different Greater Victoria schools. Many of the schools have experienced multiple exposures each. Since the tracker site relies on crowdsourced information, it is possible more exposures occurred that haven’t been listed. These are the reported ones:
- Ecole Poirier Elementary, Sooke: Sept. 13 to 17
- Ecole Quadra Elementary, Victoria: Sept. 16 and 17
- Victoria West Elementary, Victoria: Sept. 7 to 9, Sept. 16 and 17
- Campus View Elementary, Saanich: Sept. 8 to 10, Sept. 13 to 17
- Ecole Victor-Brodeur, Esquimalt: Sept. 7 to 9, Sept. 13, 16 and 17
- Sir James Douglas Elementary, Victoria: Sept. 8 to 10, Sept. 13 to 16 (reported by Island Health as cluster Sept. 17)
- Cloverdale Traditional Elementary, Saanich: Sept. 13 and 14
- George Jay Elementary, Victoria: Sept. 13 and 14
- Cedar Hill Middle School, Saanich: Sept. 7
- Dunsmuir Middle School, Colwood: Sept. 10
- Spencer Middle School, Langford: Sept. 7 to 9
- Journey Middle School, Sooke: Sept. 8
- Lake Hill Elementary, Saanich: Sept. 7
- Monterey Middle School, Oak Bay: Sept. 7 and 8
Do you have a story tip? Email: vnc.editorial@blackpress.ca.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.
