CHARLOTTETOWN — Prince Edward Island's chief medical officer says COVID-19 case and contact management will be conducted once public school students return to in-person learning on Monday.
Students and staff are being asked to take rapid antigen tests on Saturday and on Monday morning before returning to school, and follow up with three rapid tests a week for the first three weeks of school.
Dr. Heather Morrison, chief medical officer of health, says parents and guardians will be asked to notify the school or the COVID education response team if their child tests positive.
Morrison says parents and guardians of children over 12 years of age will be asked to work with students to notify close contacts directly or to inform the education response team of the contacts.
She says exposure notification letters or close contact letters will be sent to families.
Children and staff who are close contacts will have to isolate for four days if they are fully vaccinated or seven days if they are not and will need to test negative at a clinic before leaving isolation. Morrison says a single case will not trigger an automatic school closure.
She said there will be regular consultation between her office and the education system to determine when it is necessary to close a school.
Morrison said a closure would occur in the event that so many students are absent that it affects learning or when the number of staff absent results in "an untenable or unsafe operational situation."
Ten COVID-19 test kits will be given to all students and staff, including five before going to school and five more next week. Students will also be supplied with masks that must be worn inside the school or on school buses.
Health officials said 17 people were in hospital Thursday as a result of COVID-19, with one patient in intensive care. They said three of the patients were identified as part of a new outbreak at Prince County Hospital.
A total of 247 new cases were identified on the Island.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2022.
The Canadian Press
