Multiple Langley schools were issued an alert by the local district on Tuesday about possible COVID-19 exposure events.
“Not exposed” notification letters were sent to families of Peter Ewart Middle School, Langley Secondary School and Nicomekl Elementary School.
A person in each of the school communities tested positive for COVID-19, according to Fraser Health.
The health authority recorded exposures for Peter Ewart Middle School on Nov. 30, Dec. 1 and Dec. 2; at Langley Secondary School on Dec. 3; and Nicomekl Elementary School on Dec. 3.
“If you are reading this letter, your child was not in the same class as the person with COVID-19. The person involved has been isolated. Because of this, there is no chance of direct exposure at this time,” Fraser Health wrote in the three separate letters sent to families of each school.
The health authority is investigating the exposure at the schools. Should any staff or students need to isolate or monitor for signs of COVID-19 they will be contacted by Fraser Health directly.
Our District has sent home a COVID-19 Early Notification letter to Langley Secondary, Nicomekl Elementary, and Peter Ewart Middle school communities today. Thank you to staff, @Fraserhealth and families for your support. Read here: https://t.co/4z0Zs1PvU2 #MySD35Community pic.twitter.com/xnRcJjfrXY
— Langley Schools (@LangleySchools) December 9, 2020
Parents are advised to continue to send their child to school.
As of Wednesday morning there were five Langley schools on Fraser Health’s list of school exposures.
Recently, Fraser Health announced it has “streamlined” their assessment and notification process.
With the support of school districts and schools, we have streamlined our assessment and notification process to help reduce anxiety for the school community and provide timely and clear actions to impacted individuals. Learn more: https://t.co/N7Fj3aUiCj pic.twitter.com/3BizgUdsOe
— Fraser Health (@Fraserhealth) December 6, 2020
Previously, staff and parents at a schools with a COVID-19 exposure received a general notification letter asking them to monitor for symptoms.
Now, the health authority provides three types of letters for schools administrations to distribute: exposed, not exposed or general.
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Here is a breakdown of what each letter indicates.
- Early notification letter – exposed: This letter will be shared with individuals, cohorts and class(es) who have been assessed to have potentially been exposed a person with COVID-19. The letter will provide them with instructions to continue to come to school and to monitor for symptoms daily.
- Early notification letter – not exposed: This letter will be provided to individuals, cohorts and class(es) not exposed at the school. These individuals may have been at the school during this time; however, the exposure did not take place in their cohort or class(es).
- Early notification letter – general: This letter will be shared with individuals who are not part of a specific class or cohort, such as a school counsellor, who may or may not have been exposed to a person with COVID-19 and provide them with instructions.
Letters are shared while the health authority completes contract tracing. A “school bulletin” is issued to inform the entire school community after all contact tracing linked to the positive case has been completed, Fraser Health said.
@JotiGrewal_
joti.grewal@blackpress.ca
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