COVID-19 outbreak declared at St. John Community School

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There has been a COVID-19 outbreak declared at St. John Community School according to a release by the Prince Albert Catholic School Division.

The outbreak was declared by Public Health officials on Sunday evening.

Health officials are investigating multiple cases of COVID-19 who attended the school while communicable.

The release explained that one class/cohort will be moving to Level 4, which is on-line learning, as a safe alternative to continue programming.

The class will be in Level 4 from Sept. 27 to Oct.7 barring any further cases of COVID-19. The information has already been provided to the class/cohort that is required to isolate.

Students in this class/cohort will temporarily participate in remote learning using the Edsby Student Portal.

The release explained that on Sunday evening, other cases of COVID-19 were detected in different classes/cohorts however all other classes/cohorts will remain for in-person learning unless experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.

Communications have also been shared with the specific classrooms and cohorts and school community.

To protect privacy of the individuals the division will not share or discuss details.

“The Saskatchewan Health Authority continues to work closely with our school division to monitor any or all positive COVID-19 cases identified in schools,” the Division stated.

According to changes in the Saskatchewan Public Health order on Friday, Sept. 10, all positive cases and those they have exposed are now required to isolate for 10 days unless they are fully vaccinated.

Vaccinated people are advised to watch for symptoms of break through infection and seek testing if they notice anything.

For schools, the division will continue to operate in-person classes using the same safety protocols, such as mandatory masking.

Additionally, the students and families will be receiving updates using the Edsby platform.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the members of our school community who are ill with COVID-19, and we hope they are doing well,” said the division in the release. “We all have a shared responsibility to decrease the risk of COVID-19 entering schools.”

Families are asked to consider all the layers of protection such as performing daily health screening, staying home if ill, calling Health Line 811 if exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, practicing proper hand hygiene, maintaining physical distancing, and wearing a mask when appropriate.

Vaccination clinic dates and times are available in the community via pharmacies and pop-up clinics.

Drive-thru testing is available at the Cone Shop (9th St and 6th Ave E Prince Albert), open seven days a week –8:30 am –4 pm. If you are not able to use the drive-thru testing site, call 811 for other testing options.

The division also strongly urge everyone to continue to follow all Public Health advisements, orders and protocols.

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