Three staff at Armstrong Elementary School test positive for COVID

A North Okanagan elementary school has announced that three staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 and a functional closure at the school will be extended.

Armstrong Elementary posted to its website on Friday that two staff members, an education assistant, and a teacher, had tested positive.

Then on Sunday, the school announced a third staff member had tested positive for the virus.

Dates of possible exposures are listed on the school’s website.

Prior to the case notifications, the North Okanagan – Shuswap School District announced a two-day functional closure at the school for Friday and Monday.

The short-term closure came after the teachers’ union told the school district that working conditions were unsafe at the school due to the number of students not wearing masks.

On Monday afternoon, the school district notified parents the school closure is being extended through the rest of the week.

“This closure is a result of a staffing shortage caused by a variety of reasons out of our control. As such, the district is unable to provide the required level of instruction, safety, and supervision of our students,” district superintendent Donna Kriger wrote in a letter to parents.

Remote learning will be offered to students during the closure, the district said.

An update on the closure is expected on Friday.

2:09 Armstrong teachers raise safety concerns over students not wearing masks

Notably, the notification of positive cases at the school came from the school’s website and not the health authority.

In response to the Omicron variant, the provincial government announced, in early January, it wouldn’t be notifying students and parents about individual cases.

— with files from Amy Judd and Richard Zussman