LAKELAND - After an extra week away from school following the holidays, students will return to in-person classes on Jan. 10.
Minister of Education Adriana LaGrange and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw made up Wednesday's COVID-19 update, confirming that students would return to classes on Jan. 10.
"Students will return to in-person learning with the added safety of access to rapid tests and medical-grade masks that will be distributed through schools as an added layer of protection against the Omicron variant of COVID-19," according to information released by the provincial government, Wednesday afternoon.
LaGrange affirmed the province believes in-person learning is best for children, and a high priority is being put on safe in-class instruction.
She also announced that free online tutoring would soon be made available for students in Grades 4 to 9, and the tool will be expanded in the future. She encouraged parents and students to try out the tool and offer feedback.
The e-Tutoring Hub is mean to help students "catch up on important skills and learning."
When is comes to rapid test and masks, shipments will start this week and schools will have their initial shipments by the end of next week. Rapid tests and masks are being shipped in phases and will be distributed as they arrive. In some cases, shipments will be sent directly to schools, and in other cases, school divisions will gather the items in a central location to distribute themselves.
School authorities will continue to have the ability to shift individual classes to at-home learning, if required, said LaGrange.
"Decisions on shifting entire schools or school authorities to at-home learning will continue to be made by the Alberta government, with input from school authorities," according to the province.
During her COVID-19 update, Hinshaw noted that tracking of COVID cases in schools will change, as the focus for tracking cases is kept on high-risk settings. She noted that research is ongoing and more information will be released at a later date regarding how cases will be tracked in schools.
Hinshaw also acknowledged that while parents may be relieved to have students return to in-person classes, they may also be anxious.
"I understand the mixed emotions," said Hinshaw.
She noted that community transmission will continue to be high over the next month. She reminded Albertans that everyone has a role to play to help keep schools open, which includes wearing a mask, and distancing. Completing daily health assessments and doing rapid tests a couple times a week will be encouraged as students head back to class.
According to the numbers reported during the update on Wednesday, there were about 4,752 new cases confirmed of COVID-19 in Alberta and 12,000 tests completed. This represents a 36.9 per cent positivity rate, said Hinshaw.
There are now 72 people in ICU, and 11 deaths have been reported to the province over the last 24 hours.
There are 37,196 active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta, as of Jan. 5.