Schools trying to contain COVID-19 spread as sixth wave rises in Quebec

Though the province maintains the situation is stable, school absences keep climbing.

Author of the article:

Jesse Feit • Montreal Gazette

Publishing date:

Apr 08, 2022 • 5 hours ago • 3 minute read

Students at St. Monica Elementary School listen to a book reading in January. Throughout the pandemic, Quebec has maintained schools do not drive transmission but are rather a reflection of the situation in the province. But a professor who has studied transmission in schools during previous waves says the government’s continued stance is misguided. Photo by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal Gazette

To ensure the situation didn’t get out of hand, one high school in Laval sent all students home last Friday and asked parents to test their children for COVID-19 two times over the weekend.

At a private elementary school in Montreal, meanwhile, students were asked this week to once again wear masks at their desks after a handful of cases quickly spread and grew to more than 30.

As the pandemic’s sixth wave continues in Quebec, the virus is once again spreading among students and teachers, forcing schools to adapt in order to contain transmission and avoid prolonged closures or disruptions.

“We can’t control everything,” Chantal Bourgeois, the co-general director of Outremont’s École Buissonnière, said this week. “But we’re doing what we hope can make a difference.”

Though Quebec maintains the situation is stable in schools, pandemic-related student and teacher absences have increased across the province in recent weeks after steadily decreasing since early February.

According to Quebec’s Education Ministry, student absences grew for a third straight week this week, jumping by 30 per cent. The number of absent teachers increased by nearly the same percentage, and the number of classes being taught remotely more than doubled, from 43 to 112.

Overall, there are now 31,824 students, 2,092 teachers and 1,402 other staff members absent due to COVID-19. The numbers include students who tested positive as well as those who are self-isolating without a positive test.

At École Buissonnière, Bourgeois said the rise in cases started being felt two weeks ago before sharply increasing last week, reaching more than 32 students.

Bourgeois said the school asked students to wear masks during class again to hopefully contain the increase and avoid disruptions. The measure is temporary, she noted, and though strongly recommended, parents can still opt against it if they choose to.

“We’re navigating through this the best we can,” Bourgeois said. “No decision will please everyone, and some parents wish we did even more. But we don’t think this is excessive and do think it could help.”

Bourgeois said the change was needed to shield students and teachers alike, noting it’s becoming increasingly challenging to replace staff who are either sick or isolating.

“We reacted to try to avoid disruptions,” she said. “And we’re hoping the spring and better weather will bring some relief.”

Josée Pepin, the owner of North Star Academy Laval, said the private high school decided to send students home last Friday after recording 25 cases among its roughly 150 students.

After asking parents to test their children through the weekend, another dozen cases were discovered.

“The anxiety was too high,” Pepin said of the decision, noting some parents who need to travel for work purposes have started keeping their children home as a precaution.

“So we decided to send the whole school home. And it was really helpful for us, because now all those students who tested positive didn’t come in on Monday and I’m sure it’s made a huge difference.”

Throughout the pandemic, Quebec has maintained schools do not drive transmission but are rather a reflection of the situation in the province — a stance repeated by interim public health director Dr. Luc Boileau this week.

During a news conference Friday, Dr. Marie-France Raynault, a medical adviser in the public health department, said the province feels the situation is stable in schools and doesn’t intend to add any measures.

“We’ve seen a number of cases of course in schools, as we’ve seen them elsewhere in the community,” Raynault said. “(But) the situation is not worse in schools; in fact, it’s a little bit better than what we see elsewhere.”

But for Dr. Simona Bignami, a professor at the Université de Montréal who has studied transmission in schools during previous waves, Quebec’s continued stance on schools is misguided.

“Past research for previous waves shows that COVID does spread through schools, and it’s not just a reflection of COVID prevalence in the community,” Bignami said this week. “Especially when public measures are inadequate — and that means when there is no universal masking, no isolation, and no grouping (of the students).”