SD 6 Superintendent of Schools for Rocky Mountain District No. 6 Karen Shipka has sent a notice to parents informing them that the District has received its first notification from Interior Health that there is a confirmed Novel Coronavirus case at J.A. Laird School in Invermere.
“The district has worked in partnership with the Interior Health Authority and the Ministry of Education to implement COVID-19 protocols in schools for this confirmed case,” the notice says.
According to Shipka, there is a protocol to follow and District 6 is working with IH to ensure the appropriate response path has been followed.
That path is as follows:
Student, staff or other person who has been in the school confirmed to be COVID-19 case.
Confirmed case interview by public health to determine how they were infected and who there were in close contact with while infected.
The school is only contacted if case was in the school, but if confirmed case was infectious while they attended, or if it is determined they were infected at school, public health informs the school administration.
Then class, learning lists and bus contact lists are requested and it is determined if there were any close contacts. If there have been, the contacts are asked to isolate for 14 days, and if symptoms develop, seek testing. If no symptoms develop, they may return to school after 14 days.
Staff, parents and children will be notified if they were potentially exposed.
There is no information on whether the positive case is a student, staff or other.
School District 6 has been working closely with the Interior Health Authority and the Ministry of Education to ensure the appropriate response path has been followed. The safety of our students and staff are our utmost priority. We appreciate your support as we continue to navigate our new normal, Shipka says in the notice