(file photo/CJME News Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

COVID-19

Sask. Rivers schools highlight hygiene practices as COVID-19 spreads

Mar 13, 2020 | 4:37 PM

The Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division (SRPSD) is stepping up its reminders around public health following confirmation Thursday of this province’s first COVID-19 case. A second presumptive case was confirmed Friday.

In a letter to families, the division said they continued to be guided by Public Health, and firstly, wanted to remind parents and caregivers to review effective hygiene practices.

“The first, most important step is around that personal monitoring of health,” Director of Education Robert Bratvold told paNOW. “Hygiene practices, washing of hands often, social distancing, those things.”

Further measures were being taken to help limit the spread of disease and reduce pressure on the health care system. These would include: the cancellation of field trips or gatherings of more than one class where many members of the public would be present, cancellation of guest speakers, and of gatherings like assemblies.

After the widespread suspension or cancellation of hockey across the nation in the last 24 hours, paNOW asked Bratvold why schools had not yet been shut down.

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While he said that was a question best answered by public health officials, it was his understanding that it was far more responsible and effective to track individual cases and find the contacts and isolate those.

“That can be done when schools operate as they operate, because each school is a sort of its own community and is trackable if transmission [of the virus] occurs,” he said. “If the action is taken to close all public events and public schools too quickly, compliance becomes a challenge and people spread out into the community in other ways.”

The timing of the closure of schools is under debate. Manitoba’s classrooms close as of March 23, those in Quebec shutter as of Monday, and those in Ontario are already closed. There were no immediate plans to close B.C. schools.

However, in the UK for example, schools are not being closed. One health expert told Sky News closing them could reduce the number of National Health Service workers available to fight the virus as people have to look after children. Also, it could increase the risks for elderly grandparents, who could be asked to step in to help with childcare.

Another risk of closure is how it could lead to the increased movement of children to different places across the UK.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow