Island Health has cautioned the public of an additional COVID-19 school exposure on Vancouver Island at a secondary school in Port Alberni.
The health authority is reporting that there was another coronavirus exposure at Alberni District Secondary School in Port Alberni on Friday, Nov. 27.
This marks the third time that Alberni District Secondary School has been added to the Island Health exposure list.
Island Health has completed contact tracing, according to the school district, having identified any staff and students that need to self-isolate or self-monitor for symptoms.
The Port Alberni secondary school is the fifth one in the district to be linked to an exposure this week.
On Monday, Island Health announced that there have also been possible exposures to the coronavirus at Eighth Avenue Learning Centre, AW Neill Elementary School, Maquinna Elementary School, and EJ Dunn Elementary School.
The exposure at Eighth Avenue Learning Centre, located at 2941 8 Ave. in Port Alberni, took place on Nov. 24 and 25. In this case, the school district says that the exposure “was of limited duration and confined to a small program…and does not affect the general student population.” The district adds that contact tracing has been completed for anyone who needs to self-isolate.
The exposure at AW Neill Elementary School, located at 5055 Compton Rd. in Port Alberni, took place on Nov. 23 and 24. Island Health has completed contact tracing for this case as well in order to identify any staff and students that need to self-isolate or self-monitor for symptoms.
The exposure at Maquinna Elementary School, located at 3881 Bruce St. in Port Alberni, took place on Nov. 19, 20, 23, 24 and 25. The case linked to Maquinna Elementary has resulted in a full classroom self-isolating out of caution due to “the nature of the contact in this classroom,” according to School District 70.
The exposure at EJ Dunn Elementary School, located at 3500 Argyle St. in Port Alberni, took place on Nov. 24. The school district has advised that this exposure is limited to “a self-contained Early Years program operating at EJD” and does not affect the general student population.
According to Island Health, exposure is defined as a single person with a lab-confirmed COVID-19 infection who attended school during their infectious period.
Island Health notes that if a parent or guardian sees a notification on the health authority’s school exposure site does not necessarily mean their child has been exposed to COVID-19.
In addition to these five schools in Port Alberni, Island Health has three other facilities currently on its School Exposures list – two located in Victoria and one in Qualicum Beach.
Graham Cox
