Briercrest College in Caronport, Sask., reports 55 active COVID-19 cases
Briercrest College and Seminary in Caronport, Sask., was reporting 55 active COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday. An outbreak was declared at the school by the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) on Sept. 13.
Forty three of the people infected are students and 12 are staff. There have been zero hospitalizations, according to the school.
"We are working daily with SHA to manage our outbreak and from the start we have been fully complying with government mandates. Just like the rest of the province, we experienced a very rapid transmission of the virus among our student body," wrote the college's dean Don Taylor in a statement to CBC News. "We are grateful that no known hospitalizations have occurred due to the covid virus."
Vaccines are not required to attend campus, but the school is working toward having frequent testing. Briercrest began requiring masks in all indoor public spaces when the provincial mask mandate was announced.
Caronport is about 85 kilometres west of Regina.
School will have weekly testing
Briercrest said the SHA hosted a mobile testing clinic on campus on Sept. 7 and processed more than 300 staff, students and faculty. There was another round of testing on Sept. 17.
"Close contacts who volunteered the information that they received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were instructed to monitor for symptoms with increased vigilance," the school said.
Meanwhile, close contacts who said they are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated are instructed to isolate immediately and get tested for COVID-19.
Students who can't isolate on their own, like those with communal washrooms, have been moved into private rooms in Lewis Apartments.
By Sunday, 61 students will have completed their isolation, according to the school.
Briercrest said it's working with the SHA to have students, staff and faculty tested every Friday beginning tomorrow, "until the campus reaches a result of zero positive cases."
