The B.C. government has now mandated masks be worn in high schools and middle schools.

The exception to the revised order is when those students are at their desk or eating.

The new rule means grade six and seven students in middle schools will have to wear a mask in classrooms, but grade six and seven students in elementary schools will not.

Until now, masks had been mandatory in common areas of schools like hallways, but had not been required in classrooms. Some provincial advocates, including the BC Teachers Federation, have been calling for months for the province to make masks mandatory in all areas of schools.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says this order comes as there are growing concerns about more contagious variants of COVID-19 that are transmitting more often in communities.

Over the weekend, parents of a high school in Maple Ridge, Garibaldi Secondary, were notified that someone in the school community had been exposed to someone outside of the school who had tested positive for the South African variant of COVID-19. Henry says rapid tests were administered on an entire cohort, and says no cases of the South African variant have been discovered in the school.

In the Kamloops area, COVID-19 exposures have skyrocketed since the winter semester resumed a month ago. As of this morning, there were 10 active exposure events in Kamloops schools, and the list with details can be found here.

The most significant exposure is at Sa-Hali Secondary, where, as of Wednesday afternoon, 15 cases had been reported. One-quarter of school staff are isolating and more than one-in-five students are in isolation as well.

More to come.