Four more Grande Prairie schools placed under COVID-19 alert status

Jan 25, 2021 | 5:19 PM

A total of six Grande Prairie schools have now been placed under a COVID-19 alert status by Alberta Health (AH), meaning the schools have between two and four cases linked to them.

In addition to the alerts previously issued at Crystal Park School and Derek Taylor Public School; Charles Spencer High School, St Joseph’s Catholic High School, St. Kateri Catholic School and Ecole Montrose have all been placed on the public alert map.

AHS says when at least two cases are found in a school setting, public health officials initiate an investigation to monitor the level of transmission risk within the school.

“After the first two cases within 14 days are identified, additional cases in the school will be included in the investigation as long as there is less than 28 days between subsequent cases.”

All affected schools in Grande Prairie remain open for in-person classes for those not identified as close contacts.

Schools that have five cases linked to them will be reported publicly as an outbreak site. Currently, one school in northwestern Alberta is listed under an outbreak status, that being Good Shepherd School in Peace River.

Chief medical officer of health for Alberta, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, says there are currently 259 schools in the province which are under an alert status, which equates to approximately 11 per cent of all schools in Alberta.

Nine schools in the province are under an outbreak status.

Dr. Hinshaw adds there are currently 500 cases linked to schools.

by Shaun Penner