Students and staff at a pair of Prince George schools may have come into contact with COVID-19 before spring break began.
Today (March 22), Northern Health added Heather Park Elementary a fifth time to its list of exposure events since classes returned in September 2020, and College Heights Secondary for a fourth time, the second in the last six days.
Heather Park's community may have been near someone who recently tested positive for the virus on March 11 and 12, and everyone is being asked to self-monitor their symptoms until March 26.
College Heights has been cited for March 15 to 17, with March 31 as the end date of its self-monitoring period.
In all instances, Northern Health's school-exposure section explains the following:
- Contact tracing is initiated to determine how the individual was infected and who they were in close contact with
- We identify and notify close contacts who may be at an increased risk, and advise them to self-isolate and monitor for symptoms for 14 days
- Only Public Health can determine who is a close contact
- Learning groups, friends or other connections may not be determined to 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
During the pandemic, 25 Prince George-based schools have been warned for a COVID-19 exposure event, which includes 22 local School District 57 (SD57) members and three private institutions.
An up-to-date list of northern B.C. schools marked for a COVID-19 exposure event in the month of March and listed with a self-monitoring period end date is as follows:
- College Heights Secondary (SD57) - March 15-17, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 31, 2021
- Heather Park Elementary (SD57) - March 11-12, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 26, 2021
- Notre Dame School (SD59) - March 8-9, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 23, 2021
- Ecole Roosevelt Park Community School (SD52) - March 10-12, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 26, 2021
- Lax Kxeen Elementary (SD52) - March 10-12, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 26, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 23, 2021
- Pacific Coast School (SD52) - March 10-12, 2021
- Self-monitoring ends March 26, 2021
- Caledonia Secondary (SD82) - March 5, 8-12, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 26, 2021
- Kildala Elementary (SD82) - March 12, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 26, 2021
- Cassie Hall Elementary (SD82) - March 10-12, 2021
- Self-monitoring periods ends March 26, 2021
- William Konkin Elementary (SD91) - March 10-12, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 26, 2021
- Mount Elizabeth Secondary (SD82) - March 10-12, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 26, 2021
- Hazelton Secondary (SD82) - March 11, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 25, 2021
- Ecole Roosevelt Park Community School (SD52) - March 9-11, 2021
- Sel-monitoring period ends March 25, 2021
- Charles Hays Secondary - March 8, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 22, 2021
- Charles Hays Secondary (SD52) - March 10-12, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 26, 2021
- Kildala Elementary (SD82) - March 11, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 25, 2021
- Chief Matthews School (Independent) - March 8, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 22, 2021
- Valemount Elementary (SD57) - March 8-9, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 23, 2021
- College Heights Secondary (SD57) - March 8-9, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 22, 2021
- Caledonia Secondary (SD82) - March 8-9, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 23, 2021
- Lax Kxeen Elementary (SD52) - March 8, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 22, 2021
- Prince Rupert Middle (SD52) - March 8-10, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 24, 2021
- Conrad Elementary (SD52) - March 8-9, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 22, 2021
- Skeena Middle (SD82) - March 1-5, 8, 2021
- Self-monitoring periods ends March 22, 2021
- Dawson Creek Secondary - South Peace campus (SD59) - March 5, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 19, 2021
- Kildala Elementary (SD82) - March 8, 2021
- Self-monitoring period ends March 22, 2021
As of this publication, Northern Health has 5,576 COVID-19 cases detected since March 2020, including five variant-of-concern infections.
There have been 119 deaths linked to the virus in the region, including five that took place since Friday (March 19).
Currently, there are 363 active cases in northern B.C., 14 people in critical care among 39 total hospitalizations, and 5,083 recoveries.
