Vancouver-area schools low risk for COVID-19: data

A health authority says data showing schools in the Vancouver area are a low risk for the transmission of COVID-19 supports keeping classes open.

Since schools reopened in September, Vancouver Coastal Health says it hasn't recorded a significant increase in COVID-19 cases among children aged five to 17.

It says school-aged children accounted for six per cent of its COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, despite representing 10 per cent of the population.

Medical health officer Dr. Alex Choi says the authority wants educators, school staff, parents and students to feel reassured that schools are safe.

From Sept. 10 to Dec. 18, the authority says about 700 students or staff in the region were diagnosed with COVID-19 and more than 90 per cent of those cases didn't result in school-based transmission.

Vancouver Coastal Health says in a statement that the "vast majority" of those students or staff contracted the virus at home or elsewhere.

Choi says the figures support keeping schools open.

"While we have seen a moderate increase in COVID-19 cases among young people since the end of October, this is reflective of the overall increase in COVID-19 cases in our communities," he says in a news release on Thursday.

"Schools are an essential determinant of physical, mental and emotional development. It is our utmost priority to ensure students can continue to attend school, despite the ongoing pandemic."