Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK

Some parents are choosing to keep their children home from school as the number of possible COVID exposures in schools continues to increase in the Interior Health region.

Two mothers in Kamloops are speaking out about the lack of clear information they have received during the first month of the school year.

READ MORE: Number of schools with COVID exposures in Interior Health doubled in 24 hours

Shea Bauer’s kids attend Dallas Elementary School. She said she is having a hard time making decisions about how to keep her family healthy.

“We received a letter from Interior Health forwarded by the school about an exposure in our child’s class on Sept. 20,” she said. “The exposure happened on the 10th, so it wasn’t very helpful for making decisions. We have had zero information about any other cases at the school but other parents are saying their children are testing positive. It is hard to know what the truth is.”

Bauer said this year she has not received any information on if, when and how many COVID positive cases have occurred at the school.

“It is a guessing game,” she said. “My kids need to be in school, it is what is best for them but not if there are multiple cases happening regularly. We need honest and open information about when and where the cases are.”

Another mother, Nicole Collins, whose child is in Juniper Elementary school, said she hasn’t received information either.

“The school district is currently providing no commentary on the COVID exposures and is deferring all communication to come directly from Interior Health. Unless your child is in a class with a confirmed case, you aren’t getting any communication from Interior Health directly and must search for the exposure notices on their website, which I’m advised is currently only updated weekly.”

Collins said she is not getting the facts she needs in order make decisions about sending her children to school.

“Right now, parents are provided with notices about a possible exposure and are directed to monitor or isolate accordingly, however, we are not told if there was one case in the class or ten cases. That missing detail provides critical information parents need.”

Collins said there was a high number of absences at the school this past week as parents, including herself, opt to keep their children home until they get more information.

READ MORE: 749 new COVID cases in B.C. with 157 in Interior Health

“It is important to note that the process for school announcements changed provincially (Sept. 28) and that is when we began posting all school exposures since the start of the school year,” Interior Health said in an email to iNFOnews on Sept. 29. “The majority of these exposures are not new and Interior Health has been directly informing all those in the school community who may have been exposed. We have actively contact traced any exposures in the school as a priority since children returned earlier this month.”

The health authority said with the increase in vaccination rates and precautions already in place in schools, students and staff will have strong protection against the virus.

“While we are seeing significant potential exposures at schools, we do not have evidence of widespread transmission within school settings at this time,” Interior Health wrote. “Most transmission has been in family and social settings in the community. The most important thing for students and families to remember is that students who have any symptoms of COVID-19 should stay home and get tested.”

Interior Health said it continues to monitor the situation in schools very closely.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Friday, Oct. 1, that every effort is being made to have notifications go out within 24 hours of a positive COVID test but in some areas of Interior Health it can take two to three days for the information to be posted on the health authority websites.

READ MORE: COVID-19 exposures force partial closure of Kamloops school

Once a laboratory finds a positive COVID result, the parents are notified right away, usually by text or email. Health authorities are notified at the same time and start contacting the parents to find out details of where the child had been.

“Once that case investigation is done and there’s a determination that the child was in the school setting during their infection period and they had the type of contact that it might be transmitted to others, that’s when we put the notification out and contact those who were potentially exposed directly and that’s when it gets posted on the website," Dr. Henry said.

“I think we all need to recognize that this does take time and it is absolutely important for parents to know that, if their child is sick and it does come back positive, you can share that information with those people that your child has had contact with," she said. "I know there have been some reports of parents doing that and I think that’s great. We all need to support each other to do the best we can during this period of time.’

 — With files from Levi Landry and Rob Munro

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