It is very concerning to see that COVID-19 outbreaks are now happening in B.C. schools.

It’s not unexpected because the virus is still in our communities, and that makes our schools vulnerable as well.

Every health region in B.C. provides information online about COVID-19 exposures and the protocols they follow when reporting them.

In all cases, public health will investigate, interview, and conduct contact tracing. If anyone has been identified as a COVID-19 case or close contact, public health will contact them directly to provide further instruction. Dr. Bonnie Henry advised that if a person has not been contacted by public health, they should continue to monitor themselves and go to school as they normally would.

Let’s all continue to follow the guidance of the PHO: practice physical distancing, wash your hands frequently, wear a mask when indoors if you cannot maintain physical distancing, and stay home if you don’t feel well.

In solidarity and safety,

Warren Williams
K-12 Presidents Council President

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Health regions cover the following school districts:

Click on health region to get information about protocols and the current COVID-19 school exposures by district.

 FRASER HEALTH

SD 33 Chilliwack
SD 34 Abbotsford
SD 35 Langley
SD 36 Surrey
SD 37 Delta
SD 40 New Westminster
SD 41 Burnaby
SD 42 Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows
SD 43 Coquitlam
SD 75 Mission
SD 78 Fraser-Cascade
SD 93 Conseil scolaire francophone

INTERIOR HEALTH

SD 5 South East Kootenay
SD 6 Rocky Mountain
SD 8 Kootenay Lake
SD 10 Arrow Lakes
SD 19 Revelstoke
SD 20 Kootenay Columbia
SD 22 Vernon
SD 23 Central Okanagan
SD 27 Cariboo Chilcotin
SD 51 Boundary
SD 53 Okanagan Similkameen
SD 58 Nicola-Similkameen
SD 67 Okanagan Skaha
SD 73 Kamloops/Thompson
SD 74 Gold Trail
SD 83 Okanagan-North Shuswap
SD 93 Conseil scolaire francophone

ISLAND HEALTH

SD 61 Greater Victoria
SD 62 Sooke
SD 63 Saanich
SD 64 Gulf Islands
SD 68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith
SD 69 Qualicum
SD 70 Pacific Rim
SD 71 Comox Valley
SD 72 Campbell River
SD 79 Cowichan Valley
SD 84 Vancouver Island West
SD 85 Vancouver Island North

NORTHERN HEALTH

SD 28 Quesnel
SD 50 Haida Gwaii
SD 52 Prince Rupert
SD 54 Bulkley Valley
SD 57 Prince George
SD 59 Peace River South
SD 60 Peace River North
SD 81 Fort Nelson
SD 82 Coast Mountains
SD 87 Stikine
SD 91 Nechako Lakes
SD 92 Nisga’a

VANCOUVER COASTAL HEALTH

SD 38 Richmond
SD 39 Vancouver
SD 44 North Vancouver
SD 45 West Vancouver
SD 46 Sunshine Coast
SD 47 Powell River
SD 48 Sea to Sky
SD 49 Central Coast
SD 93 Conseil scolaire francophone

The Provincial Framework Agreement includes four joint provincial committees that continue to meet.

The work of these joint committees is even more crucial during this pandemic. I would like to thank the committee chairs and members for their work. This bulletin includes highlights of committee reports.

The Presidents Council meeting was held on October 5th. The next meeting will be scheduled in May.

In solidarity and safety,

Warren Williams
K-12 Presidents Council President

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Health & Safety Taskforce
Committee Chair: Paul Simpson

The committee has held regular meetings to provide all K-12 members help with the first step in creating a safer work environment. Local site-based health and safety committees are the front line to report and address workplace safety and hazards. The committee has compiled a survey to allow us to assess and help promote mandatory WorkSafeBC regulations.

Locals will get information on how to ensure they provide us with the information needed to move ahead with these changes. The comprehensive assessment/ survey is intended for all CUPE site reps to fill out independently from management (administrators/principals). Both support staff and administrators at each site will be encouraged to do a survey. Each local will have the option to assist site reps where needed. Please contact the committee if you need any assistance.

Job Evaluation
Committee Chair: Warren Williams

The work of the joint JE Committee continues despite delays due to COVID. A second consultant was brought in to assist the JE plan and a sub-committee was struck to conduct a total review of the Plan.

The sub-committee compared provincial benchmarks to job descriptions and looked at how the first pilot project related to these descriptions.

The steering committee has met and started the review and selection of the locals and districts showing interest in the second pilot project. Once confirmed, plans have begun to have online training for these new groups. We are scheduled for monthly virtual meetings.

(Report by Rolanda Lavallee)

Provincial Labour Management
Committee Chair: Rob Zver

Three meetings were held over the last year. Terms of Reference were approved and numerous discussions included recruitment and retention and the impact on maintaining service levels, overall workload, and bus driver safety. There is movement on hiring a consultant to start the work of SSIRRE as laid out in the Provincial Framework Agreement.

Committee finances were reviewed and locals with unspent SSEAC allocations are encouraged to work with their districts as soon as possible. The committee would like to thank outgoing member Patti Price (CUPE 1091) for her guidance and commitment in helping them move forward, and welcomes Tammy Murphy (CUPE 728).

Support Staff Education
Committee Chair: Jane Massy

The work of the committee, as has much of our work, has been hijacked by Covid-19. Terms of Reference and a dispute resolution process were finalized. A report on the remaining funds and redistribution was received. There was some discussion on the previous SSEAC committee.

Committee plans were outlined in a bulletin issued in early March. The committee looked at modules that had been created to support EAs in their learning. Some modules need updating as they are too time-consuming to be accommodated during pro-D days.

The committee decided to survey locals before money for training is distributed. The last two meetings have been spent discussing what the survey will look like, working with our CUPE National researcher. The committee will be meeting again on October 27th and the survey will be coming out shortly.

Our focus remains on keeping everyone in schools safe. If you are told to self-isolate by someone from provincial health, fill out a WorkSafeBC form.

WorkSafeBC information for workers can be found here.

All districts have safety plans but it’s crucial that every school also has a site committee. Contact your local if you don’t have a site committee at your workplace.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

In solidarity and safety,

Warren Williams
K-12 Presidents Council President

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K-12 Update from Dr. Bonnie Henry

“Our public health teams have been there and done contact tracing and response for every single case that has been identified in any school…We are able to manage and determine every single exposure event: whether there has been transmission in the school setting; who has been close contacts; and making sure that those people have been isolated so that we break those chains of transmission.”
— PHO Dr. Bonnie Henry

SCHOOL EXPOSURE: when a single person confirmed positive for COVID-19 has been in the school during their infectious period.  Even if you have been in a school setting with someone who has COVID, you may not be a close contact. You may not be at risk of exposure yourself. Anybody who did have contact where the virus could have been transmitted, will be contacted by public health.

(Note: a cluster occurs when there is a concentration of infections in the same area at the same time.)

CONTACT TRACERS: Every time there is an exposure, contact tracers kick into gear. They know what type of contact puts somebody at risk of COVID-19 exposure. If somebody has been unfortunately exposed to a large enough dose of the virus, there’s nothing that can be done to prevent them from getting sick.

SELF MONITORING: If people don’t have close contact, we ask them to monitor – to do the things that we have in place in all schools – to monitor closely, stay away if we’re sick, to keep those distances when appropriate, and to wear masks when appropriate.

OUTBREAK: when we have ongoing transmission and we’re not clear who has been transmitting to who and there’s widespread transmission in the school or between learning groups or groups. We have not yet had any outbreaks in our schools.

Watch Dr. Bonnie’s update on October 1, beginning at 2:17.

You can watch the October 5 update here, starting at 5:53.

Chart: Most Students with Symptoms do not have COVID-19

More information on the flu and COVID-19 is available online at the Centre for Disease Control (cdc.gov) and the BC Centre for Disease Control (bccdc.ca).

Links are also on our website at bcschools.cupe.ca. Please check the site regularly for updates and more information.

In solidarity and safety,

Warren Williams
President, K-12 Presidents Council, Local 9876

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Influenza (Flu) and COVID-19 are both contagious respiratory illnesses, but they are caused by different viruses.  Flu and COVID-19 share many characteristics, but there are some key differences between the two.

Signs & Symptoms

Similarities: Both COVID-19 and flu can have varying degrees of signs and symptoms, ranging from no symptoms (asymptomatic) to severe symptoms. Common symptoms that COVID-19 and flu share include:

• Fever or feeling feverish/chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue (tiredness)
• Sore throat
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Muscle pain or body aches
• Headache
• Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea

Differences: Flu viruses can cause mild to severe illness, including common signs and symptoms listed above. COVID-19, different from flu, may include change in or loss of taste or smell.

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How long symptoms appear after exposure and infection

Similarities: For both COVID-19 and flu, 1 or more days can pass between a person becoming infected and when he or she starts to experience illness symptoms.

Differences: If a person has COVID-19, it could take them longer to develop symptoms than if they had flu. Typically, a person develops flu symptoms anywhere from 1 to 4 days after infection. For COVID-19 typically a person develops symptoms 5 days after being infected, but symptoms can appear as early as 2 days after infection or as late as 14 days after infection, and the time range can vary.

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How long can someone spread each virus

Similarities: For both COVID-19 and flu, it’s possible to spread the virus for at least 1 day before experiencing any symptoms.

Differences: If a person has COVID-19, they may be contagious for a longer period of time than if they had flu. Most people with flu are contagious for about 1 day before they show symptoms. How long someone can spread the virus that causes COVID-19 is still under investigation.

It’s possible for people to spread the virus for about 2 days before experiencing signs or symptoms and remain contagious for at least 10 days after signs or symptoms first appeared. If someone is asymptomatic or their symptoms go away, it’s possible to remain contagious for at least 10 days after testing positive for COVID-19.

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How they spread

Similarities: Both COVID-19 and flu can spread from person-to-person, between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 2 meters). Both are spread mainly by droplets made when people with the illness (COVID-19 or flu) cough, sneeze, or talk.

Differences: While COVID-19 and flu viruses are thought to spread in similar ways, COVID-19 is more contagious among certain populations and age groups than flu. Also, COVID-19 has been observed to have more superspreading events than flu. This means the virus that causes COVID-19 can quickly and easily spread to a lot of people and result in continuous spreading among people as time progresses.

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Complications

Similarities: Both COVID-19 and flu can result in complications, including:

• Pneumonia
• Respiratory failure
• Acute respiratory distress syndrome (i.e. fluid in lungs)
• Sepsis
• Cardiac injury (e.g. heart attacks and stroke)
• Multiple-organ failure
• Worsening of chronic medical conditions
• Inflammation of the heart, brain or muscle tissues
• Secondary bacterial infections

Differences: Most people who get flu will recover in a few days to less than two weeks, but some people will develop complications. Additional complications associated with COVID-19 can include: Blood clots in the veins and arteries of the lungs, heart, legs or brain.

Source: Centre for Disease Control

Contact tracing is a vital tool in limiting the spread of COVID-19 in our schools and communities. It helps people get diagnosed earlier and reduces the chances they’ll spread it to others. The BC
Centre for Disease Control and Provincial Health Services Authority have set out the step-by-step process being used for contact tracing across the province. For more information on contact tracing – including an accessible video and infographic explaining the process – visit bccdc.ca, and links are posted on bcschools.cupe.ca.

In solidarity and safety,

Warren Williams
President, K-12 Presidents Council, Local 9876

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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