5 schools on Vancouver Island now dealing with COVID-19 clusters
Health officials on Vancouver Island have declared clusters of COVID-19 at four more schools in the South Island. There are now five active clusters at schools in the region.
Island Health defines a "cluster" as "two or more confirmed cases within a 14-day period, with evidence of transmission occurring within the school and no other likely source of exposure."
The health authority announced a cluster at Sir James Douglas Elementary School in Victoria last week.
This week, it has added four more schools - three of them elementary schools and the fourth a K-12 French immersion school - to the list of clusters on its website.
The new clusters are at Mt. Prevost and Tansor elementary schools in Duncan, Discovery Elementary in Shawnigan Lake and École Victor-Brodeur in Esquimalt.
Last year, B.C. health authorities publicly shared exposure notifications whenever someone associated with a school community tested positive for COVID-19 and had been present at the school during their infectious period.
Before the start of the current school year, health officials said such exposure notices would no longer be issued, saying the notifications had caused anxiety for parents.
Earlier this week, after backlash from teachers and parents who argued that the lack of information was more anxiety-inducing, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said her team had changed course, and was working on a new system for exposure notifications.
Details of that system have not yet been shared.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.