Argyle, Irwin Park among latest North Shore school COVID-19 exposures

Families at two more schools received notices last week about possible COVID-19 exposures.

One notice sent Dec. 16 warned families of Grade 12 students at Collingwood private school in West Vancouver about a possible COVID-19 exposure.

Another letter sent to families of a class of Grade 3 students at Irwin Park Elementary in West Vancouver Dec. 18 also warned of a possible exposure. According to parents who received the letter, the possible exposures were Dec. 10 and 11.

Ecole Argyle Secondary sent parents a letter on Friday, the final day of class before winter break, warning two Grade 11 classes – a pre-Calculus class and a life science class, according to a parent – had potentially been exposed to someone who tested positive for the virus on Dec. 14, 15 and 16.

Students in the two Grade 11 classes are being asked to self-monitor for symptoms while Vancouver Coastal Health completes contact tracing. Up until then, Argyle had been the only North Vancouver high school, besides Mountainside Secondary, that had not reported a potential exposure to COVID-19.

School is back in session on Monday, Jan. 4. Argyle students will first attend class in their newly built school on the afternoon of Tuesday, Jan. 5.

Last week, students and staff in a Grade 1 class at Upper Lynn Elementary were told to self-isolate until Christmas Day after three children and one adult in the classroom tested positive for COVID-19. Since then, both a Grade 3 class and a Grade 4 class at the school have also been advised to self-monitor after a positive case was also reported in their classes. Parents sharing information via a local social media group say there have now been seven cases of COVID-19 associated with Upper Lynn.