IH reassures parents

Some local students will be headed back to class for the last month of the school year next week, and Interior Health wants to reassure parents who may be nervous.

Starting Monday, parents who would like to send their school-aged children back to partial in-class learning are able to do so.

In a letter put out to parents Tuesday, Silvina Mema, Interior Health's medical health officer, says the “the risk of COVID-19 in the school environment is low.”

“COVID-19 activity in the Interior Health region has decreased significantly and there is currently very little evidence of community transmission," she said.

As of Wednesday, there are five known active cases of the virus in the Interior Health region, and just a single hospitalization.

In the letter, Mema says children are less likely to contract the virus, and less likely to transmit it to others.

“In B.C., less than 1% of children and youth tested have been COVID-19 positive,” she said.

During his weekly press conference Wednesday, Premier John Horgan said they would not be sending children back to school unless they felt it was safe.

Mema says the most important measures to decrease the risk of COVID-19 in schools are:

• Stay home when sick
• Wash hands frequently
• Support physical distancing through classroom design, scheduling, monitoring and supervision
• Perform routine cleaning of high-touch surfaces