A COVID-19 exposure notice has been sent to parents of Mission’s West Heights Community Elementary.
The exposures occurred on Jan. 13, and Fraser Health notified the district on Jan. 20.
COVID-19 exposure notification for West Heights Elementary for Jan 13. Thank you @Fraserhealth and school staff for your work! #SD75 pic.twitter.com/i3MymNvvcB
— Angus Wilson (@AngusSD75) January 20, 2021
This is the ninth school to be flagged for exposures in the district, following the most recent exposures at Hatzic Elementary and Dewdney Elementary in the first week of January.
RELATED: COVID-19 exposure notice sent to parents of Mission’s Dewdney Elementary
RELATED: COVID-19 exposure at Mission’s Hatzic Elementary
The other schools from last year include Hatzic Middle (which had an outbreak in December), Mission Central Elementary, Christine Morrison Elementary, Edwin S. Richards Elementary and Mission Senior Secondary and Hillside Traditional Academy.
Abbotsford has had 18 school exposures since the first week of January, 2021.
An “exposure event” is defined on the health authority’s website as “a single person with lab-confirmed COVID-19 infection who attended school during their infectious period.”
“Exposure events” are the most contained of such classifications, followed by “cluster events” (two or more individuals are infected), and “outbreak events” (infection and transmission are widespread).
A notification does not mean that other children at the school have been exposed to COVID-19.
If parents do not receive a phone call or letter from Public Health, their child should continue to attend school.
The COVID-19 school notification process consists of the following protocols:
• Contact tracing is initiated to determine how the individual was infected and who they were in close contact with.
• Close contacts who may be at an increased risk are identified and notified, and they are advised to self-isolate and monitor for symptoms for 14 days.
• Public Health determines who is a close contact. Learning groups, friends or other connections may be determined to not be a close contact.
• Public Health staff works closely with the school and school district throughout the case and contact management process to maintain close communication with the school community.
