Amid COVID-19 fears, Quebec high school students asked to go into isolation after Italy trip

High school students from Quebec's Beauce region who returned from Italy are being asked by public health officials to isolate themselves from the public for the next two weeks.

With thousands testing positive and more than 100 dead, Italy is the epicentre of Europe's COVID-19 outbreak.

A total of 37 students from Benoît-Vachon high school left their spring break trip to Rome four days early, returning home Wednesday evening.

The Chaudière-Appalaches public health authority issued a statement Friday saying the students should avoid crowded places such as school while continuing to watch for symptoms such as a cough, fever or difficulty breathing.

Initially, the health authority had decided the measure was not necessary since the young people had not visited the risk areas.

It ultimately decided to take a more cautious approach, but stressed that the probability of developing a respiratory infection due to the coronavirus is low.

The students had left for Italy on Feb. 28. Canada has since issued a travel health notice for northern Italy, listing it as a "Level 3" country, which means people should avoid non-essential travel there.

China, where COVID-19 was first reported, is also listed as a Level 3. Level 4 would mean travellers are advised to avoid the destination altogether to limit the spread of the disease in Canada and internationally.

Philippe Lessard, Chaudière-Appalaches public health director, said the way the province responds to COVID-19 cases and concerns is continuing to evolve. 

The official recommendations of the Canadian and Quebec public health authorities have not changed for travellers returning from Italy — self-monitor for 14 days and contact Info-Santé, a free healthcare consultation service, if symptoms appear.

However, Lessard said the 37 students were going to return to a school where they are in close contact with others throughout the day. Given that, the health authority decided to recommend self-isolation just in case.

"The young people are not at anymore risk than anybody else who travelled anywhere else in the world," he said.

The self-isolation is recommended because of the "difficulty in applying effective measures in a school environment if symptoms develop."

The local school board, the Commission Scolaire Beauce-Etchemin, says it will do everything in its power to ensure that affected students do not fall behind in school, while in isolation until March 18.

The board's acting director, Marie-Ève ​​Dutil, told Radio-Canada students will have access to online lessons so that "no one is penalized in terms of education."

'People need to calm down,' mother says

A mother of one of the students who went on the trip, Marlène Bisson, said the situation is getting blown out of proportion — ruining a school trip to Italy while contributing to the mass hysteria surrounding COVID-19.

"It's as if irrationality has ultimately won," she said. "I find that very sad."

The students' risk of exposure was low, she said, while travellers are arriving in Montreal by plane from around the world every day without being asked to isolate themselves from the public.

She said the decision to cut the vacation short and then ask students to stay home from school is overly cautious.

"People need to calm down," Bisson said.

"It's become over-exaggerated. It's like a collective madness. I understand that people are a little scared, but when we talk about low risk, the risk is low. Every time we leave the house we are at risk."

Quebec, which had two confirmed cases as of Thursday, reported a third presumptive case on Friday in a person who had travelled to France.

Worldwide there have been more than 100,000 cases, according to a project by John Hopkins University, which attempts to track cases in near real time.