There have been no confirmed COVID-19 cases within the district (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

COVID-19 SCHOOLS

Kamloops-Thompson School District recording no positive COVID cases, students being tested

Sep 23, 2020 | 10:45 AM

KAMLOOPS — The Kamloops-Thompson School District says there have been no positive COVID-19 cases among students or staff in the first few weeks of school, but the district superintendent says there have been students sent home with COVID-like symptoms and tested for the novel coronavirus.

SD73 Superintendent Terry Sullivan says there was a presumptive case at a Kamloops school, but the COVID test turned out to be negative. The district says there have been many COVID-like symptoms since the beginning of school, but nothing confirmed so far.

“There are symptoms that our schools are told to be mindful of and to watch for. If the people are suspicious, they go to Interior Health, they get tested. If it’s not a confirmed case, they go back to work or go back to school,” noted Sullivan. “If it is confirmed, then Interior Health contacts anybody who’s been in close contact with those individuals, but I have no knowledge of anybody being confirmed within the school district.”

The district has dodged the bullet, but Sullivan understands students and staff will inevitably be impacted by COVID at some point this year.

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“I want to stress that we’ve been fortunate, but there have been cases in Kamloops. I saw some information released by Interior Health with respect to Kamloops, so it’s in the community. It’s in our community. It’s in a lot of our communities as far as the school district is concerned and it could very well make its way into our schools.”

Earlier this week, the B.C. Centre For Disease Control released August COVID-19 numbers in the Kamloops region, indicating seven new confirmed cases. Since March, Interior Health has reported 60 positive cases in the Kamloops region, which also includes Sun Peaks, Barriere, Chase and Logan Lake.