St. Albert schools grapple with outbreaks

St. Albert Public officials say they’re not sure what’s behind a sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in the city’s schools — a spike that has turned the city into a provincial hot-spot for COVID.

Active COVID-19 cases in St. Albert nearly tripled from Nov. 30 to Dec. 13 from 88 to 261. That put the city in third place in terms of total active cases in Alberta, behind only Edmonton and Calgary, and fourth place in terms of cases per 100,000 people.

Many of those cases turned up in area schools. St. Albert Public reported 128 new cases between Dec. 1 and 13, or more than twice the number they had in all of November (53). St. Albert was also host to five of the nine Alberta schools under outbreak status (10 or more cases reported in 14 days) on Dec. 13, according to the province’s COVID-19 school status map.

Michael Zakhary, Alberta Health Services medical officer of health for the Edmonton zone, said St. Albert saw a gradual rise in active cases throughout late November and early December that appeared to be linked to schools, given its many schools under outbreak status. The city also had an outbreak in a child-care facility.

St. Albert Public superintendent Krimsen Sumners said her district has seen quite a few cases per day in its schools in recent weeks, most of which are among elementary students, the majority of which have not been fully vaccinated. (Vaccination for Albertans aged five to 11 started Nov. 26.) She wasn’t sure what caused this latest increase, but recalled how St. Albert saw a similar surge around this time in 2020.

Greater St. Albert Catholic reported 30 cases as of Dec. 9, according to spokesperson Shanlyn Cunningham — far more than the 11 they had in the first 10 days of November. All but two of these cases were in Grades 2 to 6 students.

As of Dec. 9, Sumners said the public board has cut back on field trips, restricted non-student visitations to schools, and moved about six classes online as a result of the surge.

“We don’t want to be part of the spread,” Sumners said.

Sumners said schools under outbreak status are now offering at-home rapid COVID tests, with many parents at those schools expressing an interest in using them. The district is otherwise continuing its policies of universal masking and enhanced cleaning.

Zakhary said AHS is still investigating the upswing in St. Albert. When asked why the city saw this surge in spite of high vaccination rates (79 per cent of residents five and up were fully vaccinated as of Dec. 10) , Zakhary noted that while vaccines are highly effective at preventing infection and severe illness, they can not stop every infection.

Zakhary asked parents and students to get vaccinated, wear masks, and follow other health guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID.

Visit www.alberta.ca/covid19-vaccine.aspx for questions on the COVID-19 vaccine.