Fraser Health declares outbreak over at Royal City Manor; provides information about COVID-19 school exposures

Long-term care:

Fraser Health has declared a COVID-19 outbreak over at Royal City Manor in New Westminster. With the implementation of comprehensive strategies to prevent and respond to COVID-19 in care facilities, there are no longer any COVID-19 cases at this location.

Schools:

Fraser Health is working closely with the Surrey School District to manage exposures to COVID-19 variants of concern at Princess Margaret Secondary School. In addition, Fraser Health is working with the Burnaby School District to manage an exposure to a COVID-19 variant of concern at Marlborough Elementary School. 

Please note that Chimney Hill Elementary, Fleetwood Park Secondary, Frank Hurt Secondary, and Tamanawis Secondary Schools were previously mentioned in this information bulletin in error.

Following an in-depth assessment at each location, only those staff and students who have been identified as close contacts need to be tested and have been contacted. The schools will remain open.

As these variants are new to our communities and more easily transmissible, Fraser Health is working to identify any further connected variant cases to ensure immediate isolation and case management to prevent further transmission.

The variant strains can transmit more quickly and easily but do not interfere with the effectiveness of vaccines, nor affect our ability to test for the virus.

To respond to increasing COVID-19 cases in our region, including variant cases, Fraser Health has implemented enhanced management strategies for case finding and contact management to help prevent transmission of COVID-19 and COVID-19 variants in our region.

These aggressive actions include expanding COVID-19 testing recommendations to include all high-risk contacts of individuals of who test positive for COVID-19, regardless of whether they are experiencing symptoms, expanding use of Point of Care testing for specific clusters or outbreak settings, and asking individuals who test positive for COVID-19 additional questions about their exposures, their close contacts, and their ability to self-isolate. In addition, Fraser Health Public Health contact tracing teams check in more frequently to see how they are feeling and managing their illness. Immediate steps have also been taken to streamline screening for variants so we can identify and notify positive cases more quickly.

It is critically important for people living in the Fraser Health region to get tested as soon as you have COVID-19-like symptoms, even mild ones. Please don’t wait, and book or drop by one of our collection centres which are operated in partnership with local Divisions of Family Practice. People living in the Fraser Health region can find information about test collection centres by visiting Fraser Health’s website.

To book a COVID-19 testing appointment, complete a COVID-19 test booking form.

For more information about COVID-19, please visit fraserhealth.ca/covid19.