After the Cœur-Immaculé primary school in Sherbrooke, it is the turn of the Sainte-Odile elementary school in Montreal to temporarily close its doors. In a letter to parents and whose The duty obtained a copy, the Regional Public Health Directorate of Montreal reports that “several students” of the establishment have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Sainte-Odile elementary school has been closed since Tuesday and will remain so until Friday. In the letter, Public Health indicates that this closure “will allow a good assessment of the current epidemiological situation of the school”. She also justifies her decision by the impact of administrative segregation on the management of the establishment. Preventive screening of all students is recommended “now”.
Contacted by The duty, the regional public health directorate of Montreal said not to comment on the “specific files”.
At the Montreal School Service Center, it is stated that they do not have “more details to send than the content of the letter to parents”. “The school’s emergency protocol was ready and educational planning for the 530 students is under way,” replies, in an email, the press relations manager, Alain Perron.
Distance courses will begin no later than 48 hours after the school closes, as required by the Ministry of Education, indicates Kathleen Legault, president of the Montreal Association of School Directions (AMDES). “Every school has an emergency plan that includes providing computer equipment to students who need it,” she says.
AMDES recalls that without class bubbles, the virus is circulating more than last year in primary schools. In particular, students can mix with each other during lunch or at daycare.
This is what allowed COVID-19 to spread in the Cœur-Immaculé elementary school in Sherbrooke. As of Tuesday morning, 42 cases, in 18 of the 34 groups of the establishment, had been identified. All levels of education have been affected.
The Sherbrooke Region School Services Center announced the reopening of the school on Wednesday. Eight classes will, however, have to remain in isolation. Other groups could be added as a result of the massive screening carried out, we warn.
According to government data, two schools were closed or partially closed in Quebec as of Monday 4 p.m.
Watch video
Reference-feedproxy.google.com