Regina school divisions say it’s too early to plan for coronavirus outbreak

While the Saskatchewan Health Authority is planning for the possibility of a coronavirus outbreak in the province, schools in Regina aren’t preparing just yet.

Neither the public nor Catholic school divisions in the city are doing anything at the moment to prepare for a possible outbreak.

Both divisions are pointing to the health authority and the Ministry of Health for information on the virus. Twylla West, a spokesperson for the Catholic division, said those organizations are the experts and the division doesn’t want parents to look to it for that info.

Terry Lazarou, a spokesperson for Regina Public Schools, said at this point it would be premature to talk about what the schools or division would do in the event of an outbreak.

In 2009, during the H1N1 pandemic, Massey School in Regina had about 200 of its 450 students absent from class at one point — either because they were sick or because parents kept kids home as a precaution.

The school didn’t close, though. According to the division at the time, it was advised by the health region that it was a mild form of the flu and the division decided it would be best for the community and the students to keep the school open.

Lazarou said Thursday that parents at Massey at the time were told what was going on and were given the choice to send their kids to school. He said the school was cleaned thoroughly with antiviral compounds.

If there were an issue, Lazarou said the division would take the steps necessary to ensure the safety of students and staff, but any further steps would depend on the extent of the outbreak.

“It’s too early for us to speculate on anything. We are focused on the health and safety of our students and staff and will do what needs to be done,” explained Lazarou.

The Catholic division has emergency protocols and procedures in place for all kinds of things. West said the division is watching for any direction that might come from the health authority in relation to an outbreak and would follow any such suggestions from the authority.

The decision on whether to keep schools open or not could end up out of the divisions’ hands.

According to the Ministry of Health’s chief medical health officer, if an outbreak happened in the province, the government could institute public health protocols and close schools to try to stop the spread of the virus, similar to what has been done in Japan and some parts of Italy.