Advocacy group calls for contact tracing to return to Alberta schools
An Alberta education advocacy group is urging the province to reinstate a robust contact tracing systems at schools, citing rapidly rising COVID-19 cases and the highly contagious Delta variant.
Support Our Students (SOS) says the lack of data about cases at schools in the first week of classes for many, means parents are no longer notified of exposures.
“Parents and guardians need to know if their child was exposed to a highly contagious disease to make complex decisions for their families in an informed and proactive manner,” said Medeana Moussa, executive director of SOS.
"The government is disempowering families by withholding information."
The province’s guidelines no longer includes contact tracing for positive cases at schools but investigate and consider additional measures if a school has an absentee rate of 10 per cent or higher. In the event of an outbreak, families will get a letter from AHS through the school.
According to the CBE, three of it’s 35 schools that run on a modified calendar are considered outbreak status including Wood’s Homes, Niitsitapi Learning Centre and Cappy Smart School.
The Calgary Catholic School District says it will still let other parents and staff know about a positive case if they’re notified by a parent that their child has tested positive for COVID-19, but the Calgary Board of Education says it is following Alberta Health’s directive and won’t be notifying parents.
Last school year, SOS used public data to operate a COVID-19 school tracker tool, which it says was viewed more than four million times. However, because there is no longer contact tracing being done at schools, the group says it doesn’t have the information to operate the tracker and in a statement, says this is “creating a massive information black hole and throwing families into even more tumultuous uncertainty.”
Alberta Teachers Association president Jason Schilling has also recently asked the province to reinstate contact tracing at schools and mandatory masking.
On Friday the province announced a mask mandate for indoor public places across the province with the exception of schools which can make their own COVID-19 policies.
Both the CCSD and CBE have made masks a requirement for this school year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
'Sophisticated' cyberattacks detected on B.C. government networks, premier says
There has been a "sophisticated" cybersecurity breach detected on B.C. government networks, Premier David Eby confirmed Wednesday evening.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs to start for Canucks in Game 1 vs. Oilers
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs will start in net for the Canucks as Vancouver kicks off a second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night.
Nijjar murder suspect says he had Canadian study permit in immigration firm's video
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.