Teacher in Fraser Health one of 20 new COVID-19 cases in B.C.

VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) — A public school teacher in the Fraser Health region is one of 20 new COVID-19 cases in B.C.

No students were exposed to the teacher, the province announced Thursday, the last day of school for the term.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the teacher was exposed to the virus in a social setting and is linked to another known case.

“It’s not an outbreak because the exposure event for the person who tested positive was not at school,” she added. “The investigation showed that there was no exposure events at the school, so that’s why we are reporting on it because it is a teacher and the teacher was in the school setting. But there were no exposure events at the school.”

Q how do you know no students were exposed to tchr case? Is it known transmission?
Dr Henry: this is what we do – link cases – this teacher was exposed via social interaction – was linked to known cases this is a contact of a contact of a known case.#bcpoli #covid19 @news1130

— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) June 25, 2020

 

Last week, a teacher at an independent school in Fraser Health tested positive for COVID-19. Again, no students were affected.

Henry said more COVID-19 cases were expected as more students returned to schools as part of the second phase of the province’s restart plan.

“We’ve learned a lot,” she added. “And those lessons will be applied as we prepare for the full return of school, however that will look like, in September.”

Henry added a group is working now on what’s been learned from the partial return to school and to develop contingency plans for the fall.

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Henry also announced two more deaths on Thursday. Both occurred in long-term care homes, one in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, the other in Fraser Health.

Holy Family Hospital, a long-term care home in Vancouver where an outbreak occurred last week, reported Wednesday that three of its residents have died from COVID-19. Twenty-nine residents and eight staff members have tested positive there.

Oubreaks are still active at the Mission Memorial Hospital, as well as six long-term care homes, while Henry said work continues to contain outbreaks at places where people are most vulnerable.

“The Langley Lodge is another place with large numbers of cases. Again, no new cases for a number of days, so we are watching very carefully there. We know how devastating it can be when the virus gets into long-term care,” she said.

“We are, obviously all of us, working very hard to contain things. There have been no new cases in a number of days –which is a good thing, but we are not out of the danger period there.”

Deaths in B.C. from COVID-19 total 173, while the recovery rate continues to hover around 87 per cent.

The province also reported outbreaks remain active at seven in long-term-care, assisted-living and acute-care facilities.

Of 179 active cases in the province — up eight from the previous day — 15 people are in hospital, including seven in intensive care.

One of the new cases, one was epi-linked.