COVID-19 exposure warnings have been issued for more Richmond schools.
The exposures, listed on Vancouver Coastal Health’s school exposures webpage, occurred at three elementary schools and one secondary school.
At Bridge elementary, there was an exposure on April 14 to 16, and at Anderson elementary on April 6 to 9, and April 12 to 15.
Exposures also occurred at General Currie elementary on April 16 and at McNair secondary on April 12 to 13, and April 16.
School exposures occur when someone with COVID-19 was present in the school during their infectious period.
Meanwhile, students who show symptoms of COVID-19 while at school will soon be offered a “swish and gargle” rapid test kit to take home, according to an April 16 letter to families from Richmond School District.
The district is partnering with BC Children’s Hospital to provide the tests, which will be optional.
The saline mouth-rinse and gargle method was introduced in September 2020 as a more comfortable alternative for children, compared to the regular nasalpharyngeal swabs used in COVID-19 tests.
As of April 23, there have been 5,659 exposures in 1,197 B.C. schools, according to the BC School COVID Tracker, a Facebook group tracking COVID-19 exposures in the province’s schools. Of those exposures, 75 have been variants of concern.
- With files from Valerie Leung
