No sign of COVID-19 spread at rural schools, says Yukon's top doc
CBC
Yukon's acting chief medical officer said there's no sign of ongoing COVID-19 spread in schools that have seen recent cases, but the risk is still there.
Health officials said this week there are now three rural schools — two in Watson Lake, one in Carcross — where some students and staff have been asked to isolate or monitor for symptoms. That's after cases had been confirmed in some classrooms.
Acting Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Catherine Elliott said a lot of people in Watson Lake have been tested in recent days.
"We've asked people in the Grade 1 and 5 and 4 class, and those in the Grade 10 classes, to get tested even if they don't have symptoms. And we haven't picked up any new cases in those schools at this point. We're very pleased to see that," she said on Wednesday morning.
Still, she said, some people may test negative soon after infection, only to become ill later.
"So it's early days. It's not to say we won't see more cases, but at this point that's where we're sitting."
It's a similar situation in Carcross, where students in the Kindergarten and Grade 1, 2 and 3 split class at Ghùch Tlâ Community School have also either been monitoring or isolating as a result of positive cases identified at that school.