OLDS — About 47 École Olds High School students and staff are self-isolating after a case of COVID-19 was reported in the school community.
In a letter to families dated March 10, principal Tom Christensen said on that day, school administration contacted parents or guardians of students as well as any staff who may have been in close contact with that person in the school.
“The students and staff affected will be learning and working from home until further information is received from AHS (Alberta Health Services),” the letter said.
“Alberta Health Services (AHS) - Communicable Disease Control continues to investigate the origins of the case, but due to personal privacy and confidentiality, further details are not available at this time.
“If you have not been contacted by the school or AHS, your child is considered safe to return to school as long as they complete the Alberta Health Daily Checklist,” the letter added.
Meanwhile, the letter said, “as part of our preventive measures, we have directed our custodial services team to conduct enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols within the building.
“We are grateful for the individual informing us, as the information assists us in taking swift measures to protect the health and safety of the entire school community and to mitigate the spread of the virus.
“While this is a challenging time, it is important that we work through this together. Thank you for your support.”
Chinook’s Edge School Division superintendent Kurt Sacher said he also learned of the case March 10 -- after a division board meeting that day.
“I can tell you there are approximately 47 students and staff that’ll be self-isolating in that particular instance,” he said during an interview.
Sacher said as far as he can recall, the EOHS case makes about three COVID cases that have occurred in Chinook's Edge School Division schools in Olds over the past year or so. He believes one each occurred at École Olds Elementary School and at École Deer Meadow School.
“I don’t know if we’ve ever had one at Olds High before,” he said. “But those were quite a while ago. These would not be connected. I only know of the one positive case (at EOHS).”
Sacher said the division feels “pretty good” about the protocols it has in place for the virus.
However, he noted the division can’t control what happens outside the school setting. He referenced a situation that occurred in Sylvan Lake where it appears an outbreak occurred as a result of a gathering that occurred outside of school.
“We feel really good about what the schools are doing, what the staff are doing, what the students are doing to follow the protocols in the school setting. It’s just we can’t control what happens out in the community,” he said.
