Times-Chronicle Staff
Interior Health is working with school officials at SenPokChin in Oliver to address a recent COVID exposure event.
The health authority has listed the independent school on its exposure list. The “potential exposure event” occurred on April 1.
School principal Val Allen told the Times-Chronicle that due to confidentiality and the privacy of the “school community member,” she is unable to comment. Instead, she referred all questions to Interior Health (IH).
A media spokesperson for IH said that any direct contacts with the person in question who tested positive for COVID-19 will be notified. In all cases, a person who tests positive must self-isolate.
Students who are not contacted directly about a possible exposure can continue to attend school, according to IH.
Interior Health does not provide information about individual cases unless there are broader exposure risks. “This could lead to assumptions about people’s health that infringes on their privacy.”
The authority says it cannot reduce further exposure in the community if people are afraid to come forward to be tested.
“While we are seeing cases in schools, we have not seen widespread transmission within the schools themselves thanks to the controlled environments and precautions that are in place,” IH says.
