COVID-19 outbreak declared at Auburn Bay School in south Calgary

A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at Auburn Bay School in southeast Calgary.

Two or more cases have been confirmed at the school, which is located at 7 Auburn Bay Avenue S.E., Alberta Health Services said in a letter posted to the school's websiteon Sunday at 6:30 p.m.

AHS said if staff or students are identified as close contacts of a confirmed case, they will be contacted directly for follow-up.

If staff or students develop symptoms, they should self-isolate at home and complete the online COVID-19 assessment tool or call 811 to arrange for testing, AHS said.

"Public Health staff are investigating to determine who may have been exposed at your school to cases of COVID-19 during their infectious period," the letter read.

"The virus is passed from person to person by large, respiratory droplets, like from a cough or sneeze. This means that a person would need to have direct contact with droplets from a sick person or surfaces that they have recently touched. The risk of the general population in the school becoming infected because of these cases is low."

The school serves Kindergarten to Grade 4 students.

School remains open

Earlier on Sunday, the school's principal had reported that a case had been identified at the school.

"Our school remains open to in-person learning for all students, and we are working closely with AHS to ensure necessary measures continue to be in place to protect all staff and students," principal Lori Cullen had written a letter posted to the school's website late Sunday morning.

She said school staff will have disinfected key spaces in the school before classes resume on Monday.

Cullen said students directed to quarantine will be supported by the school in maintaining course work through Google Classroom.

According to the province's school outbreak tracking map, there are three other outbreaks in the province: St. Wilfrid Elementary School and Henry Wise Wood High School in Calgary, and Chinook High School in Lethbridge.

AHS guidelines definean outbreakas two or more confirmed cases at the same school within 14 days.

As of Friday afternoon, 32 cases had been reported at 29 schools across the province.