Fraser Health changes school notifications for students, staff over COVID-19

The Fraser Health authority is changing the way it notifies people in schools about their exposures to COVID-19.

Jordan Tinney, the superintendent of the Surrey School District, says in a tweet that "significant changes'' start today for informing people in a class if they have or have not been exposed.

Tinney's notice says three different types of letters will be sent out depending on the exposure event.

In classes attended by a person who tests positive for COVID, letters will notify classmates. All others in the school will get a letter saying they were not exposed.

A third type of notification will be sent to the entire school if an infection is not attached to a specific class, such as if a vice-principal tests positive for COVID-19.

The Fraser Health Authority said once contract tracing is complete, it will issue a school bulletin to inform the entire school community that all contact tracing linked to the positive case was completed.

Rina Diaz, who has a child in a Surrey elementary school says 16 exposure events have happened at the school.

"You read it and the first thing you ask yourself is, was my kid near someone who was infected?" she said.

She says the new approach is a relief.

"This is a step in the right direction, it should have been done in September, and it didn't happen," she said.

Change based on feedback

The Fraser Health region has been a hot spot for COVID-19 and the surging infection rates prompted tighter social restrictions there and in Vancouver Coastal Health last month, only to be expanded to the entire province days later.

The health authority has reported dozens of COVID-19 school exposure events and some closures caused either by outbreaks or lack of staff. Several school employees have been forced to self isolate because of potential virus exposures.

On Saturday, the health authority said it made the changes to school notices based on feedback from schools and parents.

"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," it said in a release.

Julia MacRae, the first vice president of the Surrey Teachers' Association, is thankful for the change, but wants more action from the province, such as making masks mandatory in schools and smaller class sizes.

"Because none of these notifications have anything to do with prevention," she said.