Queen Elizabeth Elementary School has been added to the COVID-19 exposures list - making it just the second New Westminster elementary school to report an exposure so far.
The Fraser Health school exposures website added Queen Elizabeth to the list on Nov. 11, relating to an exposure at the school on Oct. 30. An "exposure" means a person who has since tested positive for COVID-19 was in the school during their infectious period.
As per standard health protocols, whenever a person in a school community – be that a staff member or a student – reports a positive COVID-19 test, Fraser Health takes the lead on dealing with that case, working jointly with the school district to notify the school community.
Every family receives an “early notification letter” and a voicemail alerting them to the fact that a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 was in the school on whatever date or dates they may have been infectious. Fraser Health then begins contact tracing to identify close contacts of the person in question; those contacts may need to self-monitor for symptoms and/or self-isolate, depending on the circumstances.
Anyone who isn’t contacted directly by Fraser Health is free to continue to attend school, with the usual daily health checks in place.
The Queen Elizabeth exposure brings to 12 the total number of exposures at New Westminster schools since the school year began Sept. 10.
Of those, only three have happened at elementary schools – the other two being at Lord Tweedsmuir. Four have been at middle schools, while the remaining five have been at NWSS.
See the complete list below.
For all the details about how the school district handles COVID-19 reporting, see its COVID-19 info centre.
WHICH SCHOOLS HAVE SEEN EXPOSURES?
Here’s the list of school exposures in New Westminster so far, as reported on the Fraser Health exposures website (with exposure dates):
Fraser River Middle: Sept. 15, 16 and 17
New Westminster Secondary: Sept. 15, 16 and 17
Queensborough Middle: Sept. 21 and 22
Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary: Sept. 24 and 25
Fraser River Middle: Oct. 7 and 8
Glenbrook Middle: Oct. 14, 15, 16
New Westminster Secondary: Oct. 14, 15, 16
New Westminster Secondary: Oct. 20, 21
New Westminster Secondary: Oct. 26, 27
Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary: Oct. 30
Queen Elizabeth Elementary: Oct. 30
New Westminster Secondary: Nov. 2 and 3
