Entire Calgary school moves to online classes after 4 cases of COVID-19

A Calgary school has moved all of its classes online until at least next week, after four COVID-19 cases were confirmed among the school population.  

École de la Rose Sauvage notified parents on Monday that Alberta Health Services had informed the school of two positive cases, and that it had learned of two more cases that morning. The school did not say if the cases were among students or staff. 

The French-language public school, which serves Grade 7 to 12 students in northwest Calgary, said a total of 96 people, including 15 employees, have been instructed to self-isolate because they have come in contact with a confirmed case.

All of the school's 260 students will be in classes online as of Tuesday, and 23 staff will be working from home. 

The decision was made proactively, the school said, because so many members of its smaller population were in contact with the confirmed cases. 

In-class learning will resume on Oct. 13 for some students and Oct. 15 for others, depending on their date of possible exposure. 

"Our thoughts are with those affected and we wish them a speedy recovery," FrancoSud superintendent Daniel Therrien said, in a letter to parents, translated from French.

"The health and safety of our staff, our students and our community are our top priorities. Please be assured that we will continue to work closely with Alberta Health Services and the Calgary zone medical officer of health."

The school is the first in Calgary to revert entirely to online classes due to a COVID-19 case. 

There are now 319 cases at 149 schools across Alberta. A total of 65 schools are classified as outbreaks, which means two or more cases, and 10 are on the watch list, which means five or more cases where the disease may have been acquired or transmitted within the school.