There are three confirmed cases of COVID-19 linked to individuals at Ponoka Elementary School (PES), including one case that is a variant of concern, as of March 1, 2021.
“All families were promptly notified and close contacts where shared information on quarantine requirements,” said Vince Burke, Wolf Creek Public Schools (WCPS) communications coordinator.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) currently designates a school in ‘alert status’ when there are one to four cases.
“Ponoka Elementary School would fall into this designation, and therefore would not be designated as an outbreak,” said Burke.
An outbreak is now defined by AHS as five or more cases.
“Student and staff safety continues to be our primary concern at the school and division level, as it has throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“To that end, we urge families and staff to continue daily self health evaluations found on our websites, stay home if sick or if you have COVID-19 symptoms, stay home if you are a close contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19 or are awaiting your own test results.”
COVID-19 protocols remain in place at the PES. Those protocols include masking, proper hand hygiene, physical distancing and enhanced cleaning measures.
This information is available on Wolf Creek websites and families can call their school for more information.
As of March 1, 2021, St. Augustine School had no confirmed cases of COVID-19 and had not had a case so far in 2021.
“As of this moment, St. Augustine has had no confirmed cases in 2021,” said Caitlin Kehoe, STAR Catholic manager of communications.
There have also been no cases of variants at St. Augustine.
In 2020, the school had a confirmed total of four cases of COVID-19.
“We are following the provincial guidelines as outlined; we have not taken any extraordinary measures,” said Kehoe.