By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

cases at high school linked

Five COVID-19 cases now confirmed at Hunting Hills, West Park Elementary reports first

Oct 16, 2020 | 1:50 PM

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at Hunting Hills High School has reached five.

Approximately 80 people are now in self-isolation as a result, Red Deer Public Schools confirms.

Principal Darwin Roscoe informed parents on Thursday that all five of these cases are linked to each other outside of the school.

Roscoe did not specify whether the two latest cases are linked to students, but does encourage parents to speak with their children about considering additional measures to prevent COVID-19 spread, including keeping social gatherings small, limiting cohorts to no more than three, and avoiding carpooling.

Roscoe previously told parents on Wednesday that an initial Hunting Hills student with COVID-19 was not infectious while at school, and two other students showed no symptoms while at school but tested positive.

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rdnewsNOW reached out to Alberta Health Services regarding the specific nature of the connection between the cases. An AHS spokesperson says an investigation and contact tracing is ongoing, so an update in that respect is not yet available.

Hunting Hills High School remains open for classes at this time.

Tom McMillan, assistant director, communications at Alberta Health, says closing a school would only be recommended by Alberta Health Services as a last resort, adding that there is no specific case threshold for a closure to be considered.

“Public health measures for alert and outbreak management are at the discretion of the Zone Medical Officer of Health,” he says. “Decisions on the need for alternate instructional delivery (e.g., at-home learning) will be made by government in conjunction with local officials.”

Meantime, Red Deer Public Schools confirms to rdnewsNOW that a case of COVID-19 has been confirmed at West Park Elementary, and that 22 students and staff are currently self-isolating.

École Secondaire Notre Dame High School, part of Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools, reported its first case on Wednesday.