Three Mission schools have been flagged for COVID-19 exposures in under a month.
Mission Central Elementary, Hillside Traditional Academy, École Heritage Park Middle have all had exposures since mid January.
Hillside Traditional Academy had exposures on Jan. 22, Feb. 2, and 4, and notices were sent out to parents on Jan. 28, and Feb. 7, respectively.
Mission Central Elementary had exposures on Jan. 26, 27, 28 and 29, and notices were sent out Jan. 31 and Feb. 3.
And École Heritage Park Middle had a single exposure on Feb. 1, with the notice being sent out on Feb. 3.
Hatzic Middle, West Heights Community Elementary, Hatzic Elementary and Dewdney Elementary have also had exposures since Jan. 1.
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.