Four cases of a COVID-19 variant have been linked to an outbreak at Tot Spot Academy in St. Albert.
On Tuesday, the province announced an outbreak at at an Edmonton Zone day care. On Friday, Tot Spot co-owner Alicia Bishop confirmed to the Gazette her day care was the location of the outbreak.
“We are being open and honest and transparent because I think that's a good benefit in this situation that everybody can get the information and maybe it'll put some people more at ease,” said Bishop.
“I feel confident we have done over and above what needed to be done. Our cohorts that weren't close contacts to begin with are still producing all negative test results."
Two people from the day care were identified as having contracted the U.K. variant of the virus on Tuesday afternoon.
Bishop said the first COVID-19 case was confirmed Jan. 19, and the second Jan. 21, when the day care closed for 10 days to prevent asymptomatic spread. All close contacts of the two cases isolated for 14 days.
At the time, Bishop didn't know the two cases were linked to the U.K. variant. The facility was informed this Tuesday.
“Our whole facility is being tested – kids, staff, everybody is being tested out of extreme caution just to make sure. So kids are not returning until they've been tested and we know that they're negative and it's safe for them to come back,” she explained.
In the province's daily COVID update on Feb. 2, Alberta Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said four cases of the variant had been linked to a day care outbreak.
"This link was just identified today, and work is under way to notify parents and staff of this facility that the outbreak at this location may be at least partially caused by a variant strain," Hinshaw said. "This is concerning but it does mean that we have a better chance of controlling spread when we understand the linkages between cases."
Bishop said this was their first COVID-19 case since they reopened in May.
The day care worked closely with AHS to ensure they are being very careful in handling the outbreak.
Tot Spot, located on McKenney Ave., opened to cohorts that were not close contacts Feb. 1 with staff and students getting tested for a third time for the variant to make sure they were negative. Cohorts that were close contacts will reopen Feb. 8.
The news comes on the heels of an announcement Thursday by Alberta Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw, who said the province has recorded a total of 68 cases of COVID-19 variants that were first found in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Eleven new cases reported Thursday were from the strain first identified from the United Kingdom and seven of the confirmed cases had no known link to travel.
"All of the individuals associated with the day care have now been contacted," Hinshaw said.
“At the moment, I do not have any information about whether or not there is any additional variant spread that’s been identified at that location but additional testing is underway.”
Regarding the variants, Hinshaw said the vaccines are still extremely effective at preventing severe cases, hospitalizations and deaths, but in the meantime, Albertans are asked to continue to use COVID-19 safety precautions, like staying home, washing hands, wearing masks and social distancing, to help prevent spread.
The variant strain is suspected to be 30 to 50 per cent more contagious than the first COVID-19 strain.
– With files from Jennifer Henderson
This story was updated at 2 p.m. on Feb. 5 to reflect that the province has said four variant cases have been linked to the outbreak at this facility.
