MHCBE superintendent Dwayne Zarichny. (CHAT News photo)

By Alex McCuaig

Schools dealing with anxious parents

Schools, daycares hearing concerns from parents

Sep 10, 2020 | 6:08 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Managing the latest information when it comes to COVID-19 regulations for children at schools and daycares can be a dizzying enterprise.

Locally, there have been no reported cases of infectious children at schools or daycares despite an increasing amount of incidents across the province.

Dwayne Zarichny, superintendent of the city Catholic school board, said he’s hearing parents concerns.

“Schools right now are fielding a lot of questions regarding what do I do if,” said Zarichny. “We’ve got a great document from Alberta Health Services that answers the most commonly asked questions.”

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That’s in addition to making sure parents are aware of the 811 number to AHS for parents to get access to medical officials for advice.

He said staff use commonsense when dealing with minor issues.

“If you eat something for example that is really spicy, typically you get a runny nose as a reaction but ten minutes later, it’s done and you understand the context that happened,” said Zarichny.

It’s the noticeably sustained symptoms which will require further examination and action to be taken, he added.

Children with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 will be required to isolate for at least ten days or until they are symptom free. Those identified as being a close contact of someone will require to be isolated for at least 14-days, the full incubation period of the virus.

And while there has been some confusion for parents inundated with information regarding COVID-19, it’s not always clear to those who are required to identify and report some of the symptoms in children, says the director of Tiny Tots Daycare in Redcliff.

“Our health inspector is great,” said Tamara Steinkey. “But sometimes when you talk to other health inspectors or different regions’s inspectors, they say something different than your own health inspectors.”

Steinkey also says if impacts are going to be minimized, testing is key.

“I think that Alberta Health needs to be more on the ball if they are requiring COVID testing for anyone with a runny nose,” said Steinkey. “They need to hire more people and they need to provide more tests and a quicker response time.”

This week, Dr. Deena Hinshaw has said measures are being taken to address to address those issues through text or auto-dial messages to those who have been tested as soon as the results are available.