UPDATE: 4:20 p.m.
Interior Health has confirmed the number of new cases at Kelowna Secondary School is four. Three of the cases were present in the school on Nov. 2 and 3, while one was present between Nov. 2 and 4.
ORIGINAL STORY:
New cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed at Kelowna schools.
The Central Okanagan School District (SD23) announced on Sunday that one case has been confirmed at Dr. Knox Middle School (DKM) and “additional cases” have been found in the Kelowna Secondary School (KSS) community.
The school district did not reveal the exact number of new cases at KSS, which previously reported three cases since Oct. 25. But they did confirm the cases are related to social interactions outside of school and are not tied to the previous exposures.
A spokesperson from SD23 told the Capital News in an email that Interior Health directs communication on new cases and all information that the school district can provide is in the news release.
All of the positive cases are in self-isolation with support from local public health teams. Those who were potentially exposed will be followed up with by Interior Health directly.
This news follows several similar instances in SD23, which has recorded exposure events at several schools in recent weeks.
A single case of the virus was reported at Okanagan Mission Secondary School on Nov. 4. A day later, another seemingly unrelated case was confirmed.
Also Nov. 5, a case was confirmed at Springvalley Elementary School, and two cases were reported at KLO Middle School.
Throughout all of these announcements, SD23 has not stated whether the confirmed cases are connected to students, teachers or staff.
The province’s first outbreak in the school system since September’s return was found at Ecole De L’Anse-Au-Sable. The first case was noted on Oct. 20 and grew to 16 people within a week. The school shuttered its operations between Oct. 26 and Nov. 4. The outbreak was declared over on Nov. 5, as classes resumed.
Two private schools in Kelowna have also recorded cases of the virus, Saint Joseph Elementary School and Aberdeen Hall.
Since students returned to schools, a group on Facebook has dedicated their time to making information about COVID-19 exposures in schools, available in real-time.
The group, BC School Covid Tracker, says they’re doing so in an effort to provide, “deserved and needed information to keep our families and communities safe.”
They have also created an interactive map, showing all the confirmed cases at schools in Canada.
To view the map, click here.
To view a list of exposures at schools, visit InteriorHealth.ca.
READ MORE: COVID-19 outbreak at Kelowna Francophone school declared over
READ MORE: Two more COVID-19 cases at Kelowna schools
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