N.B. COVID-19 roundup: Some schools to stop notifying families of positive cases

Some New Brunswick schools will no longer be notifying families about positive COVID-19 cases, according to a message sent by the Anglophone East School District on Monday.

Instead, Anglophone East will post any results it receives on its website daily, and it is now the responsibility of families and staff to check the site for reported cases at their schools.

It's not immediately clear whether all the anglophone and francophone school districts in the province will follow suit. Department of Education officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

"With the increasing number of COVID cases, we are following the Public Health assumption that COVID is now present throughout our communities," Anglophone East acting superintendent Pamela Wilson said in the message to families. "This also means that it will be present in our schools."

All public schools have extended at-home learning for students until Jan. 31 under Level 3 of the province's winter plan, which took effect Friday at 11:59 p.m. for 16 days because of rising COVID-19 hospitalizations and cases.

As of Dec. 22, the latest figures available, 897 cases of COVID had been confirmed in 193 schools since the school year started.

Public Health officials won't be confirming positive cases as they did in the past, nor will they be doing contact tracing for school-related cases, she said.

"As a result, schools will no longer be sending notification messages home to families with each self-reported case."

If a student or staff member tests positive with a rapid test, they are now asked to notify their school principal.

"We will share any notifications we receive, to the best of our ability," Wilson stressed in bolded text, "so that they are included in a list of schools, found on the Anglophone East website."

The list will be updated each weekday at around 4 p.m.

Wilson urges families to "continually" monitor for COVID symptoms and to continue to follow Public Health's directions.

"Thank you for your continued co-operation and support," she wrote.

Health Canada has approved the first COVID-19 antiviral therapy in a pill form for home use.