Zero.
That's the number of new COVID-19 exposure notifications listed for School District 40 schools this week (as of the Friday, May 28 update of the Fraser Health school exposure notifications site).
With the exception of a brief window during March break, it's the first time since Christmas vacation that the school district's 12 schools have seen no new exposure notifications.
The quiet week follows on the heels of a busy first few weeks of May, which saw a number of schools with multiple, back-to-back exposures.
Health officials have long said that school exposures follow the trend of community case counts. While that did not initially appear to be true in New Westminster during the early part of May, when community case numbers were falling while school notifications continued to rise, it now seems that the school situation has caught up to the trend of lower community case numbers.
New West recorded 61 COVID-19 cases between May 16 and 22, down from the previous weeks: 75 cases from May 9 to 15, 85 cases from May 2 to 9, and 104 cases from April 25 to May 1.
Here's how school exposures have looked since winter break:
EXPOSURE DATES AT NEW WESTMINSTER SCHOOLS IN 2021
Glenbrook Middle School: Jan. 4; Feb. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 22; April 6, 7, 8, 23; May 3, 4, 10, 11, 12
Queensborough Middle School: Jan. 11; Feb. 23, 24, 25, 26; April 19, 20; May 12, 13, 14
Herbert Spencer Elementary: Jan. 25; April 13, 14
Fraser River Middle: Jan. 27, 28, 29; March 2, 3, 4, 5
New Westminster Secondary: Jan. 28; Feb. 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 17, 18, 19, 23; March 8, 9, 11, 12, 29, 30, 31; April 1, 6, 9, 16; May 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13
Richard McBride Elementary: Feb. 10, 11, 12, 22, 23; March 1; April 6, 7, 8, 15, 16, 29, 30
Qayqayt Elementary: Feb. 22, 23; March 8, 9; April 14, 15, 16; May 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
F.W. Howay Elementary: Feb. 17, 18
Lord Kelvin Elementary: March 3, 4; April 16, 19, 20, 21; May 4, 5, 10, 12, 13, 14
Queen Elizabeth Elementary: March 8, 9
Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary: April 20, 22; May 3, 5, 6
Connaught Heights Elementary: May 11, 12
Hume Park Home Learners Program: Jan. 5
POWER Alternate Secondary: April 12
Night school at NWSS: May 12
Purpose Independent Secondary School: May 13, 14, 18
Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
Email Julie, [email protected].
