One more student at Sa-Hali Secondary School has tested positive for COVID-19 today, taking the total at the school to 15 cases – 12 students and three staff members.

Superintendent Terry Sullivan says the Kamloops-Thompson School District continues to be in regular contact with Interior Health.

“I think people are concerned about transmission within the school itself. They only thing [Interior Health] could say is that there could have been transmission in the school initially,” he said. “However, they said based on the assessment that they’ve done, it is very unlikely that the transmissions are occurring in the school, and its more likely that its community based.”

Sullivan says there are still 18 staff and about 200 students who remain in self-isolation. That is just under 25 per cent of teachers and about 22 per cent of students at the school.

“I keep indicating that its 15 cases but 12 students out of 900 students and three staff out of a staff of 73 people,” he said. “That may not lessen the anxiety but I wanted to make sure that people have the actual facts as to what actually has occurred.”

Meanwhile, it’s still unclear if the situation at Sa-Hali Secondary will be declared an outbreak.

“That’s entirely up to Interior Health. Of course, they define what’s a cluster and what’s an outbreak, those types of things,” Sullivan said. “We haven’t had any advice with respect to that.”

There are now ten schools in the Kamloops-Thompson School District with an active COVID-19 exposure after an exposure was reported at the Twin Rivers Education Centre.

Other schools with active exposures in Kamloops are Marion Schilling Elementary, Valleyview Secondary, Summit Elementary, Beattie Elementary, NorKam Secondary, Aberdeen Elementary, Arthur Stevenson Elementary, and Westsyde Secondary.

An exposure has also been reported at the private St. Ann’s Academy.

B.C. health officials today reported another 414 new cases of COVID-19 and 16 deaths provincewide, with 63 new cases in Interior Health.