The Superintendent for the Kamloops-Thompson School District is hoping to see a drop in the number of COVID-19 exposure events in schools starting next week.

Speaking on NL Newsday, Terry Sullivan says schools continue to be safe places for staff and students to be in, despite an increase in exposure events after students returned to class following the winter break.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. I think the evidence clearly shows that. These increases aren’t a result of students being in school and I think that’s another indication I think that the directions that the province has given, and certainly that health has given is the correct way to go,” he said.

“As you know the numbers were lower in the Interior, we were seeing lower numbers or certainly no numbers in our schools, but as the numbers escalated, its proportional and we saw some increase in what we are seeing in the schools.”

According to the BC Centre for Disease Control, during the week of Jan. 10 to 16, there were 97 cases in the Kamloops local health area, which also includes Chase, the north Shuswap, Sun Peaks, Barriere, Little Fort, Logan Lake, Tobiano, and Savona.

Sullivan admits he expected to see a spike in COVID-19 school exposures after the winter break. As of publishing, there have been COVID-19 exposures at 12 schools across the district – seven of which have happened since students returned to class on Jan. 4.

“You know before Christmas we looked at the one stat that had the transmission of the virus in schools as being 0.5 of one per cent, so 99.5 per cent were occurring in other places, and I think probably from what I’ve seen, even with the numbers going up, we have to look at it in context and look at the overall transmission rate,” Sullivan said.

“I’m really hoping that after this week, we will start to see this flatten out as far as our schools our concerned.”

Interior Health’s Medical Health Officer for Kamloops says there are several possible reasons why COVID-19 cases in schools have gone up since the holidays.

However, Dr. Carol Fenton too points to the fact that cases in schools are a reflection of what is happening in the community at large.

“The infection spreads in the community and then a family gets the infection and then the children go to school and when they are tested positive, we have to do the investigation and that involves making sure everyone at school is safe,” she said, on NL Newsday.

“I’m hoping that it was just a result of events that happened over the holidays and that those numbers will all go steadily downwards.”

Fenton though admits with the increase in cases, it is understandable that some people might be worried about the safety of schools.

“You know we wouldn’t continue to recommend attendance in schools if we didn’t think it was a safe thing to do. It is very important for each family to decide what level of confidence they have and make sure they’re understanding all of the measures that each school has in place,” she said.

“If I had children, I would send them to school because its very important.”

Like Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, both Sullivan and Dr. Fenton are encouraging people to remain committed to following COVID-19 public health guidelines, including avoiding social gatherings, using masks, and regular hand washing.

“Its just as important now as it has been ever to do everything we can to get those rates down in our community,” Fenton said. “The lower that that transmission rate is, the fewer people we need to vaccinate in order to stop the spread entirely. So the more that everyone can do, the faster we’ll get back to our normal lives.”

You’ll find the latest on schools exposures across Interior Health online here.

SD73 School Exposures

Fall Semester

• NorKam Secondary
• Westsyde Secondary
• Rayleigh Elementary
• Aberdeen Elementary
• Kamloops School of the Arts

Winter Semester

• South Kamloops Secondary
• Arthur Hatton Elementary
• Barriere Elementary
• Barriere Secondary
• Juniper Ridge Elementary
• Valleyview Secondary
• Marion Schilling Elementary