A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at Richard S. Fowler School, and 113 people will be staying at home for the rest of the month because of it.
Alberta Health Services declared a COVID-19 outbreak at St. Albert’s Richard S. Fowler Catholic Junior High on Sept. 21.
AHS declares an outbreak at a school when it detects at least two cases there within 14 days that could have been acquired or transmitted in the school. It declares an outbreak over once 28 days pass without any new cases showing up.
The first case at Fowler was detected in a student on Sept. 15, with the student last being at the school on Sept. 10, said Greater St. Albert Catholic deputy superintendent Rhonda Nixon. Some 64 students and three staff members were told to go into isolation the next day; they could return to school on Sept. 30.
One of those isolated students was also diagnosed with COVID-19 on Sept. 18, Nixon said. That student took different option classes than the first and had been in contact with an additional 48 students and eight staffers. Those people are now in isolation and won’t be back at school until Oct. 1.
Staff did an extensive clean of the school over the weekend and have contacted all affected families, Nixon said.
AHS is now keeping a close eye on Fowler and has reviewed all the school’s safety protocols, Nixon said, adding that AHS officials were pleased with what they found.
“They’re not closing our school just yet, but they could close it if it gets worse.”
Bellerose, SAM, Simpson
Three other St. Albert schools were also affected by COVID-19 this week.
Bellerose Composite families learned that COVID-19 had reached their school on Sept. 21.
St. Albert Public spokesperson Paula Power said the person with the disease was last at Bellerose on Sept. 11 and went into isolation after being told they had been in close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 carrier. The person was diagnosed with the disease on Sept. 21.
Power said it was unclear how many people were affected by the Bellerose case, as health officials had just started contact tracing.
About 22 Sir Alexander Mackenzie students were in isolation this week after a case was reported at the SIGIS Outreach Child Care centre they attended, which is based at the Outreach High School across the street.
In a Sept. 20 letter to parents, SAM principal Cam Makovichuk said while no SAM student had tested positive for COVID-19, the students who went to the SIGIS centre have been told to self-isolate until Sept. 29.
Sir George Simpson principal Randy Roszell told families Sept. 18 that a student at his school had tested positive for COVID-19. That student was last at the school on Sept. 14. Eight students and six staff members are now in isolation, Power said.
Roszell thanked parents for talking with their kids about the importance of following safety guidelines and reminded them to check students for symptoms every day using the health-screening questionnaire.
Alberta Health Services reported 29 active cases of COVID-19 in St. Albert as of 6 p.m. Sept. 21.
