Probable case of Omicron variant in Saskatoon schools frustrating for teachers: union

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) says a single "probable case" of the Omicron COVID-19 variant has connections to three elementary schools in the Saskatoon Public Schools division.

Staff, parents and guardians at the Silverwood Heights, Caswell and Vincent Massey schools were notified in a letter from the SHA on Wednesday that someone who was infected with COVID-19, possibly with the Omicron variant, was at the school. Experts say Omicron is far more transmissible than other variants of COVID-19. 

CBC News obtained a copy of the letter from one concerned parent.

In the letter, Dr. Simon Kapaj, the SHA's medical health officer, said that public health would conduct contact tracing of people within the same household, social circle and people who may have been interacted with the person during extracurricular activities like teammates and coaches.

"If anyone develops symptoms, please self-isolate at home and seek PCR testing as soon as possible," the letter stated.

School continues as normal

Veronica Baker, a spokeswoman for Saskatoon Public Schools, said in an email that the person did not have contact with students at any of the schools. She did not disclose the person's role within the schools.

"The three schools are operating [Thursday] as normal. Our school division continues to work with local public health officials and will adapt operations as needed," Baker said.

Friday is the last day of classes at the schools before the holiday break. Baker said the school board didn't know what the presence of the Omicron variant would mean for the new year, when classes resume on Jan. 4.

"As we have done throughout the pandemic, our school division will keep taking guidance from our local public health officials and will adjust our operations as needed," she said.

Advocates for teachers, students concerned

A retired teacher and administrator for Safe Schools Saskatchewan, which advocates for changes to protect students and staff during COVID-19, said she was sad but not surprised when hearing Omicron surfaced in schools. 

"It was bound to happen," Margi Corbett said.

"If we're going to have more Omicron in schools, which we will, teachers must be boosted," she said. "The bottom line is to keep kids safe, we have to keep teachers safe as well." 

She's also upset by the province's alteration to reporting COVID-19 outbreaks in schools. Prior to Nov. 25, the province listed exact case numbers. Now, the outbreak list has shifted to showing either small case numbers or where outbreaks have been declared.

Patrick Maze, the president of the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation, said teachers are "frustrated" to see the variant appear in schools where there haven't been proactive measures. He's also hoping teachers can get priority for booster vaccine doses and prevent outbreaks that could force students back to online schooling. 

"That would be unfortunate because it can be prevented by making sure that school staff have all of their vaccinations and have their booster shot available to them as soon as possible," he said. 

So far, Saskatchewan has reported five cases of Omicron. No new Omicron cases were reported in the province on Thursday. It's unclear if this case is among those five or is another case that hasn't yet shown up on the provincial dashboard. 

CBC News contacted the SHA for comment, but did not receive a response before publication.