A empty classroom is pictured at Eric Hamber Secondary school in Vancouver, B.C. Monday, March 23, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

A empty classroom is pictured at Eric Hamber Secondary school in Vancouver, B.C. Monday, March 23, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Not all parents may be told of COVID cases linked to their children’s school, health officials say

Focus will be on speaking to those 'considered likely or potentially exposed to COVID-19'

Health officials won’t likely notify the parents of all children who attend schools where a student who has tested positive for COVID-19 this fall.

Officials with Fraser Health say they will tell staff, and those parents of children, “considered likely or potentially exposed to COVID-19, who therefore may be incubating the virus.”

But everyone at the school is “unlikely” to be told that someone who attended the building has been diagnosed with the virus, Fraser Health officials said in an email sent to The News.

“If Fraser Health Public Health were to identify a positive COVID-19 case connected to a school, they would first determine if there was an exposure at the school during the person’s infectious period,” a spokesperson said in an email.

Those notified, Fraser Health said, “would likely include those within a learning group or cohort, but unlikely the entire school population due to COVID-19 plans that the school would have in place.”

In the event of a positive test, health officials will speak to staff to “determine the transmission risk” and the potential exposures.

Fraser Health said: “Every time there is a positive test in B.C., Public Health connects with anyone who may have come into contact with the case so they are aware and can be monitored for symptoms.”

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