1 month into school in Manitoba, 49 COVID-19 cases confirmed in class

It’s been one month since school started in Manitoba with an unwanted classmate.

As students continue to funnel into class, many parents have been left with lingering anxieties surrounding sending their children to class during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lana Kotyk sent her son Kyle to Grade 4 this year. She says the school has been diligent at monitoring for symptoms but in the back of her mind she’s worried he might catch the coronavirus.

“Kyle had a classmate go home sick so he goes, ‘I wonder if she has COVID, I hope she’s OK.’ It goes through their minds what’s happening in schools and it scares them. So things like that might happen in school,” she said.

“It’s still worrisome when it hits his school. So far so good. I hope it doesn’t hit his school but I know it will and we will have to deal with it when that time comes and I’m hoping that doesn’t come.

“The schools are doing the best they can with cleaning and sanitizing. I ask Kyle all the time, ‘Did you sanitize? Did you wash your hands today?’ ‘Yes, mom. I know what’s happening.’ They’re doing their best.”

So far there have been 49 confirmed COVID-19 cases and possible exposures in Manitoba schools.

1:37 John Pritchard School outbreak

Brian O’Leary, the superintendent from Seven Oaks School Division, says his division has noticed an increase in sick calls with absences in September at 9.9 per cent compared to last year at 5.5 per cent.

“For the first month, I think it’s gone really well,” he said. “We’ve had virtually all our kids back to school – there was a small number of homeschooling and a small number that were teaching remotely because they’re immunocompromised or someone in their family is, but most kids are in school and in class. The attendance for the month of September was better than 90 per cent.”

He says the decrease in attendance is something the division not only expected but also encouraged.

“A lot of folks in normal years if a kid got mild sniffles, you would send them to school, or a staff member has a headache or sore throat, they would teach anyways, so we’ve said if you’re symptomatic, stay home. More people are staying home and taking that precaution, and in a number of cases, staying home longer,” he said.

“For the month of September we’ve had one infection in one school and there wasn’t a second infection in the school — it was deemed to be low risk. With 12,000 kids coming in and out every day across 26 school buildings, we think it’s gone well.”

Across the board, school divisions have seen a decrease in attendance this fall.

Not all of the absences have been due to sick calls.

For the River East Transcona School Division, the number of students present for September was 89 per cent compared to 93 per cent the previous year.

The Pembina Trails School Division saw its absence rate rise two per cent in 2020, while the Winnipeg School Division saw its absence rate rise about seven per cent in 2020 compared to 2019.

School COVID-19 exposures in Manitoba:

• Churchill High School, located at 510 Hay St. in Winnipeg. The student, in Grade 7, Room 20, used Winnipeg Transit on Sept. 8.
• Ecole New Era School at 527 Louise Ave. in Brandon on Sept. 11 from 8:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
• Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute at 720 Alverstone St. in Winnipeg on Sept. 9 in the morning and Sept. 10 in the afternoon.
• John Pritchard School at 1490 Henderson Hwy. in Winnipeg on Sept. 8, Sept. 9 and Sept. 10 in both the morning and the afternoon on each day.
• Beaverlodge School at 6691 Rannock Ave. in Winnipeg on Sept. 10 (morning and afternoon).
• St. Aidan’s Christian School located at 400 Hargrave St. in Winnipeg on Sept. 10 and 11.
• Public health has advised John Pritchard School of six new confirmed cases of COVID-19 connected to the school. This brings the total number of cases to seven.
• Gordon Bell High School at 3 Borrowman Pl. in Winnipeg on Sept. 17 in the morning and afternoon.
• Collège Garden City Collegiate on Sept. 14, 15 and 16.
• School portable at Meadows School in Brandon on Sept. 15 and 16.
• Collège Louis-Riel on Sept. 14.
• There are 20 confirmed cases associated with the John Pritchard School cluster, however, investigations continue.
• Gladstone Elementary School Sept. 8 to 10, and 14.
• St. Maurice School on Sept. 17 and 18.
• Emerson School on Sept. 16 and 17.
• Grant Park High School in Winnipeg on Sept. 15, 16 and 17.
• River East Collegiate in Winnipeg on Sept. 18.
• St. John’s Ravenscourt School in Winnipeg on Sept. 14 and 16.
• R.J. Waugh Elementary School in Carberry on Sept. 21: a positive COVID-19 case on a bus.
• Carberry Collegiate in Carberry on Sept. 21: one grade is being transitioned to remote learning as of Sept. 28 for up to 14 days.
• John W. Gunn Middle School in Winnipeg from Sept. 16 to 18: based on the public health investigations, the exposure was assessed to be low risk and the infection was not acquired at school.
• École Précieux-Sang in Winnipeg on Sept. 18.
• St. Maurice School in Winnipeg on Sept. 17 and 18: a second confirmed case of COVID-19 was at the school on these dates.
• IQRA School in Winnipeg on Sept. 23 and 24.
• Glenlawn Collegiate in Winnipeg on Sept. 25.
• Carberry Collegiate in Carberry: a second case was at the school on Sept. 21.
• Hugh John Macdonald School in Winnipeg on Sept. 28.
• IQRA School at 404 Web Pl. in Winnipeg on Sept. 22, 23, 25 and 28.
• Stonewall Collegiate at 297 Fifth St. W. in Stonewall on Sept. 28 and 29
• College Louis-Riel at 585 St Jean Baptiste St. in Winnipeg on Sept. 28.
• Andrew Mynarski VC at 1111 Machray Ave. in Winnipeg on Sept. 28 and 29.
• Dufferin School at 545 Alexander Ave. in Winnipeg on Sept. 28 and 29.