North Shore parents take COVID tracking into their own hands

Taking things into their own hands, some parents in B.C. have no problem sharing their children’s positive COVID-19 test results to help others avoid the virus at school.

A Facebook group that tracks cases at schools is growing in popularity, with a number of North Shore parents sharing their own data to help others.

Changes brought in after winter break to how schools report exposures and cases have left many parents frustrated, so sources like the North Shore COVID-19 Information Facebook group have been seeing plenty of visits.

Coralynn Gehl, who runs this particular group, says dozens of diagnoses are being shared.

“I’ve been so happy that people have been willing to step up and share. In the last five days, there have been a little over 40 cases that have been reported. I know, it’s certainly not anywhere close to all of the cases happening on the (North) Shore, but it’s really helpful for people to see that there’s a case in their class,” she told CityNews.

Gehl knows of parents who have pulled their kids — particularly younger students who have not yet been fully vaccinated — from class for a few days because of the information posted on the Facebook group.

“It’s great to be able to provide that information for them that they wouldn’t otherwise have,” she added.

B.C. stopped sending exposure notices for single cases in the fall, opting instead to report clusters and outbreaks.

However, earlier this month, the province said COVID-19 exposure notices will no longer be sent unless there are significant dips in attendance. Health officials have cited the Omicron variants short incubation time as a challenge, noting it would be difficult to track cases and potential transmission due to the quick timelines.

That prompted Gehl to take action.

“I had posted to [Facebook] and suggested that we sort of collectively on the North Shore do our own contact tracing, and be sharing exposures, be sharing positive tests when they come in. We’re so far past the point where there’s any stigma in getting a positive test result for COVID. There’s no reason why people shouldn’t be sharing their positive result,” she explained.

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The province extended the winter break for most students by a week in an effort to bring in enhanced health and safety measures amid the Omicron wave.

Since the return to class, there have been a number of functional closures of schools in B.C. Functional closures happen “when a school cannot adequately supervise or instruct children,” the Ministry of Education explains. This is possible when there are snow days, power outages, and even illness.

Currently, the functional closures are due to staffing shortages amid the rapid spread of the COVID-19 variant. Earlier this month, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry warned up to a third of the workforce could be out sick in the coming weeks, with Omicron proving to be more transmissible than other mutations of the virus.