K-12 students returning to classrooms next week as Alberta reports record-high cases, increasing hospitalizations
The decision comes as the Omicron variant is rapidly spreading across the country
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As Alberta reported another day of record-high COVID-19 cases, the province announced kindergarten to Grade 12 students will return to classrooms Monday.
Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said Wednesday the province will distribute medical-grade masks and rapid test kits to schools as an added precaution for students and staff heading back to school after an additional week of winter break.
The decision comes as the Omicron variant is rapidly spreading across the country. In Alberta, there are 37,196 cases of COVID-19 confirmed by PCR test, which is only a portion of the actual number of cases since PCR testing is limited.
A record 4,752 new cases were reported Wednesday with the highest test positivity rate logged in the province at 36.9 per cent. The data doesn’t include positive results from the rapid antigen tests Albertans are using at home, which Premier Jason Kenney noted on Tuesday means numbers are actually much higher than what’s being reported.
The number of COVID patients in hospital jumped to 470 from 436 a day earlier. Of the 470 hospitalized patients, 72 are in intensive-care units — an increase of 11 in a single day.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said another 11 deaths were reported to Alberta Health, bringing the COVID-19 death toll to 3,333.
Despite the widespread transmission of Omicron, Hinshaw said she believes restarting in-person instruction at schools is prudent.
“The community transmission risk right now is the highest it’s ever been. I want to be clear that out in the general community, no matter what the setting, there is a very high transmission rate right now. I continue to advise that people do everything they can to minimize the number of close contacts they have,” said Hinshaw.
“However, I also believe that if we were to shut schools across the entire province, we would be imposing much greater harm on all of those students by not allowing them the option for in-school learning at this time.”
Shipments of the rapid tests and masks for schools will start this week, and schools can expect to receive their first shipment by the end of next week. Students will receive their supplies from the school once shipments are received, said LaGrange.
“Alberta Education is continuing to work closely with school authorities to support shifts that may be required for operational reasons, such as student or staff absences,” she said.
School authorities will be able to transition individual classes or grades to at-home learning if it is necessary as a short-term solution.
“As I’ve said before, I’m always so impressed by the resilience shown by our students, our staff, our school boards and our families in the whole education system,” said LaGrange.
She said the additional safety measures are meant to supplement the physical distancing, cohorting and cleaning policies, and availability of vaccines for students and staff.
Just over 37 per cent of children aged five to 11 have received their first dose of vaccine in Alberta, while 85.3 per cent of those aged 12 and over have gotten at least two doses.
Alberta has also administered 1,035,726 booster doses of vaccine.
Everyone has a role to play in keeping schools open and children safe by limiting community transmission, Hinshaw said.
“Next to getting vaccinated, the most critical thing we can do is stay home if we’re sick even with the mildest of symptoms. Wearing masks and keeping our distance at all times also reduces our risk of spreading the virus but they cannot eliminate all risks of exposure,” she said.
Parents and guardians must complete a health assessment of their children before sending them to school to see if there are any signs of illness and should do a rapid test a couple of times a week to screen for asymptomatic infection, Hinshaw said.
With the overwhelming volume of infections, Alberta Health Services no longer has the capacity to do full case investigations of non-high-risk cases and will only be further investigating cases linked to high-risk settings such as continuing care and health-care facilities. Other cases confirmed by PCR test will be notified of the result and informed about isolation requirements.
Alberta’s post-secondary institutions are opting to keep most students online for the first few weeks of classes as a new semester begins.
The University of Calgary has started classes online, with an exemption for courses where there is a requirement the students attend in person, at least until the end of the month.
With the semester starting this week at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, most classes are online until at least Jan. 21, according to a news release from SAIT. On-campus labs will run in-person starting Jan. 10.
When classes start up again at Mount Royal University on Monday, the majority of courses will be delivered virtually until Jan. 22. As well, Bow Valley College will be starting the new term on Monday with a temporary switch to online learning until at least Jan. 21.
sbabych@postmedia.com
Twitter: @BabychStephanie
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