Coronavirus in schools: New West exposure numbers down in 2021

COVID-19 trend 'moving in the right direction' in New West schools

New Westminster Secondary School just reported its second COVID-19 exposure of 2021, but numbers in the district are down significantly since December

COVID-19 exposures in New Westminster schools are down significantly since before the winter break.Getty Images

New Westminster Secondary School just reported its second COVID-19 exposure of 2021 – but exposures in the New West school district are down dramatically since Christmas break.

Someone in the NWSS community was at the school on Feb. 4 and 5, according to a letter sent to families Feb. 9. The notification follows closely on the heels of an earlier letter outlining an exposure on Jan. 28 and Feb. 1.

Superintendent Karim Hachlaf noted at the Feb. 9 school board operations committee meeting that the early notification letter just sent to NWSS families was the eighth of this calendar year. The district has also sent out six “self-monitor” letters, which are issued to those who may have come into contact with the affected person and are being directed to watch for symptoms.

Those numbers compare favourably to the situation in the district before winter break. In the month of December alone, Hachlaf said, the district sent out 29 early notification letters and 18 self-monitor letters.

In the week before winter break, the district also sent out its first – and so far only – self-isolation letters, ordering two classes at NWSS into isolation heading into the break. (Self-isolation letters are sent in cases where contact tracing by health officials has determined there is a higher risk from contact with an infected person, based on the length of time of the exposure and the type of interaction the people involved have had.)

No self-isolation letters have been sent so far in 2021.

“Clearly, the trend is moving in the right direction,” Hachlaf said, noting that makes a 72% drop in early notification letters and a 66% drop in self-monitor letters. “Fingers crossed that this trend will continue.”

‘PROMISING TREND’

Hachlaf also shared some data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control modelling briefing given by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry on Feb. 5.

Statistics in that briefing show that children aged 5 to 12 accounted for 4.8% of B.C.’s COVID-19 cases between Sept. 7 and Jan. 31, despite making up 7.7% of the population. Teens aged 13 to 18 accounted for 5.9% of the cases, compared to 6.2% of the population.

“They really reinforce the low infection rate that we’re seeing from our school-age children, aged five to 18, which is a promising trend that we are still monitoring within our schools," Hachlaf said.

He noted information provided by Henry that showed the two major school start dates – Sept. 10 and Jan. 4 (when classes returned from winter break) – were not followed by any “significant increase in community transmission.”

“The work we’re doing, both in the schools and the work our families are doing around the provincial orders, is paying dividends in terms of keeping our schools safe,” he said.