Growing coronavirus outbreak lands another Edmonton school on "watch" list

Another Edmonton school has been added to Alberta Health’s “watch” list because a fifth student there tested positive for coronavirus.

Highlands School has joined Vimy Ridge on the watch list for the Edmonton zone, which lists all schools with outbreaks involving five or more cases that could have been acquired at school.

Schools added to the watch list may have to implement additional public health measures to fight virus spread.

Edmonton Public Schools said in a news release Friday that no one else at Highlands has to self-isolate because of these latest positive tests, which suggests the patients were already self-isolating due to close contact with another confirmed case at school.

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The school district also announced several more new coronavirus cases Tuesday.

Two more people from Waverley School have tested positive. That school has already declared an outbreak, and it was the first school in the province where in-school transmission was confirmed. There are now four cases at Waverley, and the district says it’s likely the latest ones caught it at school as well.

Two people at Riverbend School have tested positive, one person from Westminster School has tested positive, two people from Parkview School tested positive, and a second person at Harry Ainlay School has tested positive, although it’s not believed this case is related to the first.