The Saskatchewan government released procedures for what to do if students and teachers develop COVID-19 symptoms as part of its Safe Schools Plan on Monday.
All schools will need to designate an “isolation room” — a place where students or staff will be brought if COVID-19 symptoms arise and they are not able to immediately leave the school.
A school official will then call their parents to pick them up and that will be followed by a call to public health.
If a teacher develops symptoms, they’re being told to notify the school immediately who will find someone else to lead the class.
Providing alternative arrangements for in-class instruction is something the Saskatchewan Teacher’s Federation (STF) president feels might be risky.
“Where my mind goes right away is: which substitute teachers are going to want to come in to a situation where a student or a teacher has been found to have COVID-19, and were appropriate sanitization plans carried out,” STF president Patrick Maze said.
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The school will be keeping records of where students sit to support public health investigations and contact tracing.
School divisions will have alternative learning opportunities in place for students who are unable to attend school for medical reasons, according to a press release.
Overall, Maze said these protocols are a step in the right direction but he still wants more to be done.
The school year is set to start as early as Sept. 1.
The government’s Safe Schools Plan was introduced on Aug. 4.
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus. In some provinces and municipalities across the country, masks or face coverings are now mandatory in indoor public spaces.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.
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