Three Surrey schools warned about exposure to B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-19
Posted February 20, 2021 4:57 pm.
Last Updated February 21, 2021 4:40 pm.
SURREY (NEWS 1130) — Students, staff, and families at three Surrey schools are being notified about exposures to the more transmissible B 1.1.7 variant of COVID-19 first identified in the UK.
Superintendent Jordan Tinney shared the exposure notices Saturday.
The affected schools are Ecole Woodward Hill Elementary, Tamanawis Secondary, and A.H.P Matthew Elementary.
Tonight we issue notices to 3 schools on exposures to COVID-19 Variant. Thank you to @Fraserhealth for working with us this weekend. To the staff, students, community of AHP Matthew, Tamanawis and Ecole Woodward Hill, thank you for all you do. #sd36learn @CityofSurrey #surreybc pic.twitter.com/X0bp8nH45r
— Jordan Tinney (@jordantinney) February 21, 2021
The exposures date back to late-January, and early February, but all three notices were issued Feb. 20. after Fraser Health confirmed they were cases of the more contagious variant.
“Testing for the variant takes longer than standard COVID-19 testing which is why we have received this information now,” the letters all read.
At Ecole Woodward Elementary, the affected person was in the school from Feb.. 3 to Feb. 5, and again from Feb. 10 – Feb. 12.
“Fraser Health has directed two classes and over 20 individuals to self-isolate,” according to the notice.
At Tamanawais Secondary, the person who tested positive for the variant was in the school from Jan. 26 to Feb. 8. The health authority has identified three close contacts, who have been told to get tested and self-isolate.
Similarly, at A.H.P. Matthew Elementary, three close contacts of the confirmed case have been instructed to get tested and isolate. The exposure dates for that school are Jan. 26, Jan. 27, and Jan. 29.
In early January, an entire cohort at a Maple Ridge high school underwent testing after a COVID-19 case at that school was linked to a “close contact” of someone who had contracted the variant. The entire cohort tested negative. However, in that case, no one who tested positive for the variant had entered the school.
