Christ Church Cathedral School, Victoria Ecole Quarterway Elementary, Nanaimo At Belmont Secondary, a COVID-19 exposure occurred on April 20. Meanwhile, at Colquitz Middle School and Northridge Elementary, exposures at both schools occurred on April 19. At Cedar Hill Middle School, exposures took place on April 19 and 20, according to Island Health. Meanwhile, an exposure occurred at Christ Church Cathedral School on April 21. Lastly, exposures have been reported at Ecole Quarterway on April 20, 21 and 22, according to Island Health. Whenever a COVID-19 exposure takes place at a school, Island Health begins contact tracing and will reach out to anyone who was at a high risk of exposure.
Other recent exposures in Greater Victoria include Drinkwater Elementary, Colquitz Middle, Mount Douglas Secondary and Victoria High. COVID-19 exposures have also been reported in the past two weeks at Arbutus Middle in Saanich, Ballenas Secondary in Parksville, Belmont Secondary in Langford, Oaklands Elementary in Victoria, Nanaimo District Secondary, Kwalikum Secondary in Qualicum, and Oak Bay High. Dunsmuir and Cedar Hill middle schools were reported to have a cluster of cases two or more confirmed cases, plus evidence of transmission in late March. Island Health conducts contact tracing in schools, and students can continue to attend classes unless their families are directly notified.
VANCOUVER A long-awaited drum-making project at a Vancouver Island secondary school is teaching students about various aspects of Coast Salish culture through music and art. Over the course of a few weeks throughout February and March, students at Belmont Secondary School in Langford, B.C., worked with Elders and role models in the Sooke School District to create handmade drums. The Legacy Drum Project has been a vision for the school for the past four years and was finally able to come to fruition this year, says Indigenous literacy teacher Natasha Parrish. “This has been a really incredible learning opportunity to share cultures and learn from each other,” she says. “In fact, many school districts now have classroom sets of hand drums that students sing and drum with.”
Matt and Rebecca Dell with their children Sophie, 4, and Corbin 8 in front of their home in Oak Bay on Monday, April 5, 2021. The Dells plan to keep the kids out of school and daycare for two weeks as COVID-19 case counts rise. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST Five Greater Victoria schools had COVID-19 exposures during the first week back after spring break compared to just one in all of February heightening parents’ anxiety and leading some to pull their children from school. Island Health warned families and staff last week that “significant numbers” of exposures were expected in the weeks after spring break as cases in the region, including in children, were on the rise. On Monday, Island Health recorded 100 cases over a two-day period, and on Saturday, the region recorded 147 cases during the previous 48 hours. The previous daily record was 55.
In early December, when they discovered Andre had stopped taking his medication for depression and anxiety, the Courtemanches had called the youth crisis line and their family doctor. The doctor had referred Andre to a psychiatrist six months earlier, when the teen said his medication wasn’t working. But by late December, as Andre’s mental health deteriorated, the family still hadn’t received a call from a psychiatrist. Denise pressed the family doctor to check on the referral. On Jan. 3, two days after Andre was last seen leaving his Cressida Crescent home and walking along the E & N rail line that abuts the backyard, the couple got a call about a psychiatric appointment in February.