B.C. schools to use attendance for COVID response

As B.C. schools prepare for a full return to in-person learning on Monday, the province will be using attendance as a key measurement to determine whether there needs to be a COVID-19 response from public health.

“Schools will be monitoring attendance rates closely and will notify public health and the school community if attendance dips notably below typical rates,” Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside said Friday.

“That will trigger a response from public health, which may include an investigation [and] might include the use of rapid tests to get a better understanding of what’s happening.”

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says a 10 per cent drop in attendance of both students and staff will generally be enough to trigger a response, however everything will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

B.C. schools stopped sending notices out for single cases of COVID-19 in the fall, moving to only reporting on clusters and outbreaks. Last school year, all cases resulted in notifications.

The Omicron variant has led to skyrocketing COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, leading to some apprehension from parents about the return to school. B.C. delayed the start of post-winter-break classes for most students to allow for additional safety measures to be in place for Jan. 10.

The measures include reinforcing daily health checks, staggering times to prevent crowding, conducting virtual only assemblies and staff meetings, allowing visitors only for direct support, and pausing extracurricular sports.

Ed Min @JM_Whiteside
Monday schools will open with additional measures (these already known).
-3 ply masks & refresher on using mask (asking parents to send child with but school will provide if not)
-reduced crowding
-shifted start times#bcpoli @CityNewsVAN #covid19

— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) January 7, 2022

Whiteside says on Monday, students will be given a “refresher” on the importance of masks and the proper way to wear one.

“We do ask parents to send their child to school with a three-layer mask. However we will ensure that these masks are available at school for anyone who needs one,” she said.

The BC Teachers’ Federation has been among those saying the measures in place before the winter break are not enough to ensure safety in the classroom.

Ontario is implementing two measures the @bctf has been calling for:
✔️supplying education workers with N95s ✔️prioritizing education workers for boosters This needs to happen in #bced as well. #bcpoli https://t.co/5lU3vjEfwy

— Teri Mooring (@TeriMooring) January 6, 2022

She adds it is “critical” for staff and students to do daily health checks before going to school and to stay home if they feel unwell.

Transmission in school concerns

Paul Tupper, SFU professor of mathematics and COVID-19 modeller, says the impact of the return to class on the situation in the province will depend on what’s being done in schools.

He says the data from the 2020-2021 school year shows there was not a lot of transmission in classrooms.

“Most of the time there was an exposure in the classroom, that did not lead to subsequent cases. And it appears that transmission in schools was not a large part in what drove the pandemic,” Tupper said.

“But now, things are very different. Because, as we know, Omicron has both substantial ability to evade existing immunity and it looks like it’s also much more transmissible…we don’t know what schools will be like when schools reopen.”

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The province has long cited data which supports that transmission of COVID-19 in school settings is low, and overall children’s hospitalization rates remain low, with very few deaths. In recent months, Henry said cases among children are typically higher in communities with low vaccination rates.

Early research suggests children are safer than adults, and Omicron appears to be milder than the earlier variants.

“Just because it’s milder than the earlier variant doesn’t mean we don’t have a huge problem when a large portion of the population catches it,” Tupper said.

He says he isn’t holding his breath the situation will be the same as it was with the Delta variant and says we should prepare to see more transmission in schools.

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While some provinces, including Ontario and Quebec, have gone back to virtual learning because of an explosion in COVID-19 cases, B.C.’s top doctor has said it’s essential we keep schools open for children.

But with staffing issues expected across the province in the weeks to come because of the quick spread of Omicron, it is possible kids will see temporary shifts to remote learning if too many teachers or assistants are sick at one time, something the Surrey School District has warned parents could be possible.

Henry confirmed Friday that could happen.

“Learning at home may need to be in place for some students over the coming weeks or months,” she said.

B.C. schools to get a third of province’s rapid tests in next week

The province says 600,000 rapid tests are coming over the next week, 200,000 of which will be deployed to schools.

BC's share of the federal 18 million is 13%.
600,000 of those coming over next week.
200,000 new tests coming next week will go to schools.#bcpoli @CityNewsVAN #covid19

— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) January 7, 2022

Tupper says there are certain situations where rapid tests can be useful in schools. One example is providing them to close contacts when there’s been a COVID-19 exposure in a classroom.

“That allows us to detect their COVID earlier,” he adds. “Omicron being so infectious, I think in some cases it may make rapid tests seem even more valuable.”

Related Articles:

• Keeping B.C. schools open amid COVID-19 crucial for kids with special needs: advocate

• Surrey schools warn of potential COVID-related closures after return from winter break

The vaccination rates among school-aged children is growing, with 39 per cent in the younger age cohort of five to 11 having received their first dose in B.C. In children 12 to 18, 83 per cent have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

With files from Liza Yuzda