National

COVID-19 variant traced to Maple Ridge high school

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 01 Feb, 2021 06:03 PM

Health officials in British Columbia say specific students and staff at a Maple Ridge high school will receive COVID-19 tests after a person at the school had close contact with someone carrying a new strain of the virus that causes the illness.

Fraser Health says Garibaldi Secondary School remains open while efforts are underway to manage the exposure because the variant strain is not one currently in the community.

⁦@Fraserhealth⁩ is proactively arranging for testing to take place tomorrow for staff and students who may have been in contact with the school case when they were at school https://t.co/rO7tDxY9yX
— Dr. Victoria Lee (@DrVictoriaLeeFH) February 1, 2021

Mutations of COVID-19 are known to spread more quickly, but doctors say they do not seem to cause more severe illness, interfere with the effectiveness of vaccines or affect testing for the virus.

The health authority says the person who originally developed the variant version does not attend Garibaldi Secondary and all affected individuals at the school have been told about the need for a test.

A statement from Fraser Health says it is working to identify any other connected cases and ensure immediate isolation of those involved to prevent further transmission.

Chief health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix are set to provide an update on COVID-19 cases in British Columbia after confirming 514 new cases of the virus on Friday, and five more deaths .

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Learning to live with COVID-19 requires permanent fixes to vulnerable settings

Canada's chief public health officer warned Monday there is still a lot we don't know about the virus that causes COVID-19, but said stopping this pandemic or preventing a future one will require more than just physical distancing and handwashing. Dr. Theresa Tam said we simply do not know yet whether someone who has had COVID-19 will be immune from getting it again, or how long that immunity will last.

Learning to live with COVID-19 requires permanent fixes to vulnerable settings

B.C. university creates institute to take microscope-telescope view of pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed the world at a tipping point that's challenging social, political, economic and environmental structures, says the director of a new academic research institute at British Columbia's Royal Roads University. Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon said Monday the pandemic is an event with the power to cause those structures to fall like dominos or shift radically to new paths.

B.C. university creates institute to take microscope-telescope view of pandemic

Drugs and cash seized from a Whalley area residence in Surrey

Illicit drugs and cash have been seized from a residence in the Whalley area following an investigation by the Surrey RCMP. The investigation began on March 5th, 2020 by the Surrey RCMP Community Response Unit (CRU). CRU observed suspicious activity consistent with drug trafficking at a residence in the 11400 block of 124 street.

Drugs and cash seized from a Whalley area residence in Surrey

Police say B.C. woman whose disappearance sparked wide search found dead in Burnaby

The body of a missing British Columbia woman has been found two months after she disappeared. A statement from New Westminster police says the body believed to be that of Nirla Sharma was discovered Sunday along the Fraser River between New Westminster and Burnaby. The woman's disappearance from her New Westminster home sparked a major search in late February.

Police say B.C. woman whose disappearance sparked wide search found dead in Burnaby

PM Trudeau says nearly 10,000 businesses apply for wage subsidy in first hours

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says nearly 10,000 businesses have applied for the federal government's wage-subsidy program to help them deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The emergency measure will cover 75 per cent of wages for employers that have seen sharp declines in revenue since the novel coronavirus hit Canada hard in March, up to $847 per worker.

PM Trudeau says nearly 10,000 businesses apply for wage subsidy in first hours

Man wanted for murder in B.C. extradited back to Canada say police

Police say a man wanted in connection with a first-degree murder charge in British Columbia has been extradited back to Canada. Sgt. Frank Jang of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team in British Columbia says Brandon Teixeira arrived back on Canadian soil on Friday, after being held in custody in the United States since Dec. 1 following his arrest in Oroville, Calif.