Roberge rules out new school closures 

As the cases of COVID-19 are adding up in the province's schools, Education Minister Jean-François Roberge tried to be reassuring, while admitting that the situation is "not perfect". At a press conference on September 8, the Minister reported 118 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among students and staff since the beginning of the school year. 

Roberge said that 70 elementary and high schools in the province now have at least one confirmed case of coronavirus, and another 50 schools were in the process of "validation", i.e., waiting for test results. In total, 120 schools have been or are still in the process of being assessed for COVID-19. This figure has tripled since the initial assessment reported 46 affected schools.

However, the Minister invited Quebecers to put this data into perspective, reminding us that 118 cases had been detected, while the Quebec school system has 1.4 million students and staff members. "When we talk about possibly 120 schools affected, this is out of 3,100, and when we talk about 118 people, it is out of 1.4 million," he said. "This is not considered an outbreak at this time." According to him, it is "almost impossible" for an outbreak to occur in a school if the "bubble class" concept is properly applied. 

He reiterated that the government's "bubble class" strategy is designed to keep schools open by allowing some students to be isolated, rather than the entire school, when a case is confirmed. "We don't want to go back to closed schools. We experienced that this spring. It's something that has left its mark, on staff, on parents, on students. We're going to do everything we can to avoid closing schools again," he said.

--How many students are in self-isolation?                  

He was unable to specify at the press conference the number of students currently in self-isolation at home, saying he did not have that information.

When he announced his plan in August for the start of the school year, the children were expected to be able to benefit quickly from quality distance education, with computer equipment provided, in the event of class closures. "According to the feedback I'm getting, it's going very, very well," said Roberge. "Sometimes it's done in 24 hours - that's really the target - sometimes it's done in 48 hours, but I'm told that it's going very well, that many have been able to switch over quickly, that we're able to lend tablets or computers to those who don't have them, and that the quality of service is there."

[Local Journalism Initiative]