An adult connected to an independent school in the Fraser Health region has tested positive for COVID-19, according to Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.
Just which school in the Fraser Health region was involved is not clear, though Henry said so far no children are involved in the investigation.
“A small number of close contacts have been notified and no children have been involved,” she said in a public statement Thursday.
This is the first time a case of COVID-19 has been identified at a school in the Fraser Health region — which includes the Tri-Cities — since teachers and students were returned June 1.
Henry said that the school has suspended in-class instruction and shut down for the remainder of the school year.
“Given that we still have spread of COVID-19 in our communities, this is something that is not surprising, and it is something that we were preparing for and monitoring as children and teachers and educators went back to in-classroom schooling at the beginning of the month,” said Henry.
Indeed, the presence of COVID-19 in schools is something Henry warned could be a real and unsurprising possibility in the days leading up to a return to school. At the time, Henry told reporters COVID-19 is more likely spread from adults to children than vice versa. In other parts of the world, an inflammatory symptom known as Kawasaki disease has been linked to a novel coronavirus infection.
Henry said that this condition typically occurs in children after a viral infection, and though COVID-19 may be one of the causes, it's not the only virus that can cause it.
Of the dozen cases identified in B.C., so far none have been confirmed to be linked to COVID-19.
As of Thursday, June 18, there were 2,738 cases of COVID-19 reported across the province, of which 170 are still active. Of that total caseload, Fraser Health has the highest count with 1,141 cases.
