Briercrest College dealing with COVID outbreak

It has been a trying month at Briercrest College near Caronport.

According to a release on its website, the college had eight individuals test positive for COVID-19 when they first arrived for classes. Students and employees were all instructed to receive a test to help “preserve health and safety on campus,” the release said.

On Sept. 7, more than 300 staff, students and faculty were tested, which resulted in another eight positive cases being recorded.

Close contacts who told staff they were fully vaccinated were told to self-monitor with “increased vigilance.” Others who weren’t fully vaccinated were told to get tested again.

“Those who tested positive isolated immediately and aided Briercrest Staff in contact tracing to help protect community health and safety,” states the release.

Those who couldn’t isolate on their own were moved to private rooms, with another round of testing set up for last Friday.

Up until Sept. 16, students weren’t directed to wear masks at any point. In its entirety, the “Briercrest Return to Campus Plan” for the fall only used the word “mask” once, detailing “adequate PPE” would be provided to students in isolation — if they tested positive for COVID-19.

Positive results climb through September

When the provincial government mandated masks indoors Sept. 16, Briercrest complied on that date.

The next day, the college saw a total of 23 positive cases among those considered close contacts.

On Monday, the college peaked at 71 total cases. Sixty-one of those students are expected to complete their isolation periods by Sunday.

Briercrest Christian Academy saw three total cases during that period. The academy is separate from the college, serving high school students.

As of Wednesday, the total number of active cases on campus dropped to 55, including 43 students and 12 staff members.

No hospitalizations were needed due to the positive COVID cases.

Moving forward, Briercrest said it will work with the Saskatchewan Health Authority to retest the entire campus community weekly, every Friday until the campus is COVID-free.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an amended version of this story, correcting an erroneous headline.