Rapid Test Kits Are Here For Prairie South Just As The Variants Appear

The Province may have released 100,000 rapid COVID - 19 tests for use by schools but the tests will not be immediately administered in the Prairie South School Division (PSSD).

In a letter dated March 24th from superintendent Tony Baldwin and PSSD chair Robert Bachmann parents were told the division had received the tests but they will not be administering them for the time being. The decision to deploy the rapid tests will not be made by PSSD.

The reasons for not administering the tests are the decision to use them is up to local Public Health staff and there has also been pushback from parents.

“You may have read in the news the Government of Saskatchewan has provided COVID Rapid Testing Kits for every school division in Saskatchewan. Prairie South has received these kits, however at this time we will not be deploying them. Local Public Health staff will determine when these may be needed in one or more schools. We have spoken to several parents who are worried about this development - nobody in a Prairie South school will be tested without written consent,” the letter stated.

The letter to parents posted on Prairie South School Division’s Facebook page - Source Facebook

The letter continues that so far there have been 47 cases of COVID - 19 detected in a PSSD school(s). Over the past week Variants Of Concern (VOC) have been detected at PSSD schools.

“In the last week, some of these cases have been connected to one of the COVID Variants of Concern that Regina is grappling with,” the letter stated going on to add that one of PSSD’s affiliated schools in Moose Jaw had moved to distance learning effective March 24th.

MJ Independent has learnt the affiliated school moving to distance learning due to concerns about VOCs is Cornerstone Christian School.

The letter does not state which VOC has cropped up in a PSSD school(s). However the Province lists as of March 23, 2021 there were 17 VOCs detected in the south central zone all of which are the B.1.1.7 UK (or the variant that has been traced back to the United Kingdom).

VOCs or Variants of Concern are a mutated version of the original coronavirus which are much more readily transmissible (communicable). The Province’s chief medical health officer Dr Saqib Shahab has said VOCs are 70 percent more transmittable than the original coronavirus. Both VOCs and the original coronavirus cause COVID - 19 in people who contract it.

It is normal for viruses to mutate throughout their life to make themselves more transmittable in their hosts and better evade the body’s immune system.

“We anticipate that “normal” operations will continue throughout the rest of the school division until the Easter break,” the letter stated.

The potential spread of VOCs is being monitored by the City’s COVID - 19 Leadership Team.

A March 22nd news release from the Province stated school staff were not expected to administer the Rapid Tests but there would be a training course.

“The rapid antigen tests use a short nasal swab and can be administered by laypeople who have completed a training program through the Saskatchewan Health Authority lab. Schools will work with their local medical health officers to determine when testing is appropriate and will work with parents and caregivers to ensure consent is in place,” the release stated.

A positive Rapid Test will be followed up by a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test provided by the Saskatchewan Health Authority. A negative test does not need to be confirmed as long as the individual has no symptoms of COVID-19.

"A rapid testing program in schools is another excellent tool to help monitor the presence of COVID-19," Education Minister Dustin Duncan said in a March 22nd statement. "The safety of students, teachers, and school staff is our government's priority, and school staff and students have done an excellent job in helping to prevent transmission of the virus."

Speaking on John Gormley Live on March 24th (Wednesday morning) Premier Scott Moe said VOCs in Regina are a major concern with 775 active cases in Regina. A large number of the Regina cases are VOCs although the Premier could not state the exact as it is not a statistic presently tracked by the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA).

The SHA does however track the number of cases by age and at the present time the number of younger people who have contracted COVID - 19 in Regina are younger people.

“In Regina 80 percent of our active cases are people under 50…so we just need to be more diligent,” Premier Moe told Gormley. “We do know the vast majority of cases in Regina is, are part of the variant and there are 755 cases in Regina.

The Premier did guess 700 out of 755 active cases of COVID - 19 were caused by a VOC.

“The main issue for us is it is more transmissible, more people have it, more younger people have it,” he said.

Given the projected trajectory of cases of COVID - 19 the government took action by enacting a partial lockdown for Regina and immediate area.