A staff member at an independent school in British Columbia’s Fraser Health region has tested positive for COVID-19, leading to the suspension of classes.
According to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, the individual held various roles at the school, including teacher. Henry said a small number of close contacts have been notified, and that there are no contacts that were of concern involving children.
“This is not unexpected,” said Henry. “When we went into opening up the in-classroom schools at the beginning of June we were paying attention to this and that it was very possible somebody would bring the virus to the school setting with them.”
B.C. had originally reopened schools on a part-time and optional basis on June 1. Henry said the positive case won’t change the province’s risk assessment, with there being low COVID-19 transmission rates among children.
On Thursday, Henry also announced eight new cases of COVID-19, increasing the province’s case count to 2,783. Of those patients, 2,425 have recovered from the virus, an increase of three since Wednesday’s update.
There remain 190 active cases in the province. Ten people are currently in hospital (down by one), while there remains five people in intensive care.
Along with no recent COVID-19 victims, Henry said there have been no new community or health-care facility outbreaks. Instead, the outbreak at Nature’s Touch Frozen Fruits has been declared over.
