VICTORIA An elementary school in Nanaimo is reporting a COVID-19 exposure, becoming the fourth school in the city to issue such an alert since March 1. Island Health says exposures to the coronavirus were reported at Mountain View Elementary school on March 2 and 3. The school joins Bayview Elementary, Nanaimo District Secondary and Wellington Secondary, which all reported COVID-19 exposures in the first three days of the month. Mountain View Elementary previously reported a COVID-19 exposure on Feb. 16. There are currently 15 Vancouver Island schools on the health authority’s COVID-19 exposure list. When there is an exposure in an island school, health officials contact everyone who may have been at risk directly and instruct them to self-isolate or monitor for symptoms as necessary.
All three individuals have been identified as civilian defence team members who worked closely together. “Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton is currently being sanitized, while we gather more information and continue to assess the situation,” Wright said. Contact tracing and testing are being carried out by public health. Island Health has also identified COVID-19 exposure risk at Stelly’s Secondary School in Saanich, and Nanaimo District Secondary and Brechin Elementary in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith district. The dates of exposure are Feb. 1 at Stelly’s and Brechin and Jan. 28 at Nanaimo District Secondary. According to Island Health, anyone who may have had a high-risk exposure will be contacted by public health and instructed to self-isolate.