COVID outbreaks hit 28 city schools
Parent group calls for leadership, creative solutions from province
Parents are calling for innovation and leadership as 28 Calgary schools face major COVID -19 outbreaks of 10 or more cases — 18 of which are high schools — and more than 6,300 students in isolation.
Among those as of Tuesday, Sir Winston Churchill High School hit 25 total cases, while Western Canada High School moved all Grade 10 students to online learning until at least April 26.
Alberta Health also confirmed schools have hit new highs, with 453, or 19 per cent of all schools in the province now with active alerts or outbreaks of cases of the novel coronavirus.
At the same time, the majority of COVID cases, or 52 per cent, are now variants of concern, which are more contagious and dangerous to younger populations.
“We are seeing a sharp rise in cases in school-aged Albertans as well as those in all other age groups,” said Dr. Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer of health for Alberta.
“While there are no risk-free options with COVID-19, the rise we have seen is not attributed to any one single cause, and in fact is often linked to social gatherings outside of school rather than inclass transmission.”
But parents say they are tired of the province's lack of leadership and innovation in dealing with rising variants, with Alberta identifying 705 new variant cases Tuesday, bringing its active total to 7,910.
Karin Gerritsen, who has a daughter at Western Canada, said she's frustrated with seeing Alberta always behind in reacting to spikes, and now increased restrictions are being ignored.
“We knew this was coming, we knew it weeks ago. All we had to do was look to Europe, yet we are behind again and here we are,” Gerritsen said.
“We know that retail is now supposed to only be at 15 per cent capacity, yet we see how busy the malls are, how packed the parking lots are,” she added.
“We also know that indoor dining is not allowed, so we're seeing outdoor patios packing picnic tables outside, and people are jammed together.”
Gerritsen also argued that while the province also regularly advocates for no indoor gatherings, students in public schools continue to face crowded conditions and no change to safety protocols.
“They say no indoor gatherings, but guess what students in schools have to do every single day? Every single day.”
The Calgary Board of Education has listed 97 cases of COVID-19 in the month of April alone, with 4,300 students and 240 staff in isolation since April 8.
The Calgary Catholic School District is reporting 91 active cases, with 2,077 students and 165 staff now in isolation.
Among those are 18 senior high schools with “Tier 2” outbreaks, meaning there are 10 or more cases at the schools.
That list also includes Joane Cardinal Schubert, St. Francis High School and Ernest Manning, which sent letters home last week confirming variant cases.
Medeana Moussa, spokeswoman for Support Our Students, said it's time for the province to provide some leadership and innovate better solutions, such as going to a scenario with staggered schedules at overcrowded schools.
Similar to programming already introduced at some schools in B.C. and Ontario, students could spend half their week learning in class, and the other half at home, allowing for more space and physical distancing at school.
“With variants on the rise, there is a lot of trepidation about sending kids to school. But we've also been at this for a year, there are learning gaps, so there is also a lot of trepidation about closing schools,” Moussa said.
“This is a scenario that was rolled out in the initial stages of planning, but it has never been discussed or raised again. Why not have a look at this?”
Gerritsen added the other challenge is the province's messaging around vaccines has lacked clarity.
Earlier this week, Premier Jason Kenney admitted uptake in registering for the Astrazeneca vaccine has been slow, but then did not expand on its efficacy rates, saying only that Pfizer is 85 per cent effective after the first dose.
Tuesday, Hinshaw clarified, saying that according to Canadian data, both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines provide 80 per cent protection against infection after the first dose.
Astrazeneca's first dose reduces infection rates by 60 to 70 per cent, while hospitalization risk is reduced by 80 per cent.
Hinshaw did not, however, provide protection rates for any of the vaccines after the second dose, saying only that it is significantly higher.
The province has not been clear on when Albertans can expect second doses or when they will be offered.