Dr. Lamont Sweet, left, P.E.I. deputy chief health officer, and Health Minister Doug Currie, look on as Dr. Heather Morrison responds to media inquiries during a news conference in Charlottetown on Monday. The province continues to hold daily briefings to update Islanders with the latest information on the outbreak of H1N1 or swine flu. Guardian photo by Heather Taweel
Four P.E.I. schools have more than 30 per cent of their school’s population sick with swine flu but the province says it will continue to keep the schools open, for now at least.
O’Leary Elementary and St. Louis Elementary in western P.E.I. and Westwood and Donagh in eastern P.E.I. are now reporting absenteeism levels above 30 per cent.
Health officials say absenteeism levels range from 33.5 per cent to 47 per cent but nobody could say which school is reporting 47 per cent illness rates.
Chief Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison says she spoke to school board superintendents and the decision has been made to keep the schools open.
That, she added, is consistent with recommendations by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
“The national Public Health Agency of Canada has issued guidance on school closures, and there is evidence to suggest that when schools close that does not limit the spread of the influenza virus as children tend to congregate in other places,” Morrison said late Monday evening.
Thirty-five schools are now reporting an outbreak of swine flu.
There are 17 schools in the Eastern School District, 13 in the Western School Board, and four in the French Language School Board.
One private school, Immanuel Christian School in Charlottetown, is also reporting an outbreak, which means absenteeism over 10 per cent due to the swine flu.
Eastern School District superintendent Sandy MacDonald said so far enough staff remain healthy so they can keep their schools open.
He said between two and four per cent of staff is reporting illness.
“Even if Dr. Morrison says there is no medical reason to close schools if you have 30 per cent of the kids missing, we may close a school for operational reasons,” said MacDonald.
“For example if we do not have enough teachers, or we can’t get the kids there on the bus, or if we don’t have enough cleaners to keep the school clean, then we’d say operationally we can’t run the school.”
The professional development day for teachers and school staff that was scheduled for Friday, Nov. 6, has been postponed so the province can start rolling out vaccines for elementary school-aged children.
That means regular classes will be held on both Thursday and Friday.
“This was a joint decision that was made by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and the three school boards to enable the vaccination clinics to be held at schools as soon as possible,” said Education Minister Gerard Greenan.
“The PD day will be scheduled later this school year.”
In the Western School Board, parent-teacher interviews that were to be held at all schools on Thursday will be rescheduled to a later date.
In the Eastern School District, there will be regular classes at all schools Thursday except Westwood Primary, Southern Kings Consolidated, Georgetown Elementary and Cardigan Consolidated where PD sessions and parent-teacher interviews will go ahead.
Vaccination clinics will be held in these schools on Friday.
Some schools are now finding it difficult to get substitute teachers and education officials are taking steps to ensure that substitute teachers are available.
“We are reviewing our fall calendar of professional development and in-service activities and we are scheduling only those that are absolutely necessary in order to free up substitute teachers for schools,” Greenan added.
School outbreaks:
Bluefield High School;
Charlottetown Rural High School;
Colonel Gray Senior High School;
Donagh Regional School;
Eliot River Elementary School;
Englewood School;
Glen Stewart Elementary School;
Gulf Shore Consolidated School;
L.M. Montgomery School;
Montague Regional High School;
Morell Regional High School;
Mount Stewart Consolidated School;
Parkdale Elementary School;
Sherwood Elementary School;
Vernon River Consolidated School;
West Kent Elementary School;
Westwood Primary School;
Alberton Elementary School;
Amherst Cove Consolidated;
Bloomfield Elementary School;
Elm Street Elementary School;
Greenfield Elementary School;
Hernewood Intermediate School;
Kensington Intermediate/Senior High School;
O’Leary Elementary School;
Queen Elizabeth Elementary School;
Somerset Consolidated School;
St. Louis Elementary School;
Tignish Elementary School;
Westisle Composite High School;
Ecole Pierre-Chiasson;
Ecole-sur-Mer;
Ecole Saint-Augustin;
Ecole Francois-Buote;
Immanuel Christian School.
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ed from PEI writes: province says it will continue to keep the schools open, for now at least.
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JD from PE writes: Yes and these are the same people who decided to wait to give the shot to the school children.
Just imagine if they had started with the kids last week. How many more kids would have stayed healthy? Plus how many kids have been already infected this week or next because they have not received the shot.
We are supposed to have faith in Currie or Morrison? the only person there who has any public confidence is Sweet. But he not in charge.
This whole outbreak has been botched from the start in PEI.
The Chief health Officer should have her resignation already in and the Health Minister's should already be on the Premier's desk.
There needs to be complete public inquiry about how this whole process was botched from the start and also just how did the Chief Health Officer become the Chief Health Officer?
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johnny henry from alberton, pe writes: lol the the virus spread keep them open there doing a good job at that , fire them now the dont deserve to be on the health board they are doin a terrible job
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once again from charlottetown, PEI writes: Close the elementary school where the outbreaks are occuring. These children will not be 'congregating' elsewhere. They will be at home where they are safe from catching this flu. Close them for a week and see how that goes. Quit sending the kids to school expecting they're not going to catch it when there is a 30% outbreak! It's rediculous! They will catch it and spread it to others at home!
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l l from pei writes: Does anyone remember when they said that schools would be closed if there were more than 30 percent absent? What happened to that decision?
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unknown from PEI writes: who decides on closing the schools ! obviously they dont have kids !!!oh wait there child probably already had the needle !!!!! this has gone far out of control,
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pj from chtown, pei writes: I AM OUTRAGED!!! who are they to dictate that after the % rate schools should remain open? This is wrong on so many levels .
Those children won't miss that much waiting until they have at least some protection from this.
Maybe as parents its time we took action these are our children NOT theirs!!
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AMom from PEI writes: I thought we were told that schools would close when the abstenee list was 30% or greater! Of course closing schools willl help stop the spread as all our children will be home...Why are they ingnoring what they said in this paper just last week??
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Fearmongering on PEI from PEI writes: Considering that hospital staff are not swabbing and testing EVERYONE for H1N1, to say that a school has 30% of it's population out with swine flu is just rediculous!
The Guardian needs to get rid of their high school journalists and report FACTS!
You can find out this information by asking health officials, reading the Health Canada website and not relying on your neighbours for the truth!
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A Guy from PE writes: My daughter has had many classmates out of school in her junior high this past week. We went to the mall last night and saw no fewer than four of them shopping - this is not a mall with a medical centre or a pharmacy so we are wondering at the 30% or more illness rate.
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MOM from PEI writes: Thank God (that right God with a capital G) we are not sick. I think it is okey to keep the schools open if the staff is healthy. I you want to keep you child home that is your choice!! Keep them home in a bubble until it all passes. But if someone is sick in your home do you want them home with a sick person 24-7 or at school with healthy people were they are cleaning/disinfecting more often.
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Sarah from PE writes: The schools don't need to close for ME to make a decisions about MY children. If you feel your children should be home, KEEP THEM HOME. And then have the sense to do just that--keep them home instead of allowing them to go visit their friends or go to the mall.
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TA from pei writes: The fear mongering is continuing. Many of the kids that stayed home do not have the flu. Some parents are keeping their kids home out of concern which is an individual choice. I do hope that when the children in school get their immunization that they also include pregnant teachers at the same time. Its also time to keep pregnant teachers out of the classroom until they have been immunized and the vaccine kicks in. The best thing we can do is use common sense and stay calm. It takes time to vaccinate 35 million people. The only people who should be listened to are the doctors who have the facts. The rest of us can be helpful by not jumping in front of those who are most in need. Above all, the regular flue will kill more people by far than the H1N1 and no one is concerned about that. Too bad all Islanders didn't tune in to Gold Haw Live on CPAC Sunday night with 3 doctors as his guest. This was the most informative hour on TV relating to H1N1. Every complainer should watch that program if available on line and get informed. We will get through this.
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Charlottetown Mom from PE writes: I spoke with the administrator at our school this morning regarding the absence of my children for the remainder of the week. I was concerned that they were missing too much work and was hoping to come in to pick up my childrens' homework.
The administrator told me point blank that the adminstration had a meeting with all of the teachers last evening and they have agreed not to be teaching new material as there are many classes reporting 8-10 students absent.
So, what does this tell me? What I have read into it is that the school is not teaching anything new so why not keep all the kids home. My daughter was very upset this morning when I kept her home (her two siblings are being treated for H1N1 although not in hospital so they have not been swabbed) because she has several tests this week. I think the school boards need to send a message to the general public, especially when a school is making this kind of decision, to inform parents that school is not mandatory at this juncture and it is completely up to them whether or not to send them to school. If the parents of sick children would keep these sick kids home until 24 hours after the last dose of Tamiflu, we wouldn't be in this situation.
Too many people are not taking this seriously and these people are the ones who are indirectly going to be responsible for even just one life lost.
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common sense from pei writes: Closed or not closed.. I used my common sense and kept mine home the day they started announcing out breaks.... you dont need to wait for them to make the decision you know.... just keep them home.
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WHERE IS IT from pe writes: dR. mORRISON, put you facts and totals where your mouth is, Is it true or not true that there are only SIX confirmed cases on PEI and they are all at home getting better. YES or NO. without all the double talk.
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Not buying into the hype from PE writes: The schools are reporting a high number of students out with the Swine Flu, but how many actually have it? How many are taking advantage of the situation for a few days off of school? How many parents are panicking and keeping their children out of school so they won't catch it? Every little cough, sniffle and fever doesn't equal swine flu.
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Mel from New Brunswick writes: One thing you can be sure of though,,,,, the inmates are protected.
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fedup from pe writes: Do what you think is BEST for your children. If you as parents feel keeping them home will be safer for them , then please keep them home. Don't let the politicians or the school boards dictate to you what's best for your kids. Parents keep kids out of school for a week at a time for sports! This is a no brainer!
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m from pe writes: people are keeping their kids home out of fear. that is why there are such high levels of absenteeism. no one knows how many kids actually have H1N1, and how many are home because their parents are keeping them there. it's not only H1N1 out there. people are paranoid!
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Ruth Webster from Charlottetown, PEI writes: people who have it cannt stay home and thats why our kids are getting it
stay in if your sick
the kids will stay home from school to just go out and spread it around
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Worried Mom from pei writes: Every day I put my child on a school bus and put her safety in the hands of the Eastern School District. Each time there has been an illness within the school (or classroom) parents were sent home notices indicating the problem and what to look for. This put my mind at ease, until I realized that for some reason, it appears that the presence of H1N1 is NOT going to be handled the same way. I have been told this is due to confidentiality rules. So, if I call the school and ask if there have been cases of, say, head lice (which is easily treatable) I will be given a straightforward answer. If I call regarding H1N1 I will be asked to call the school board. Then I will be put on hold for thirty minutes. Then I will be told that they are not allowed to release that information.
-Just last week we were told that 30% absenteeism would close schools... but now we learn that it's only if they have STAFFING issues? The staff won't have weeks worth of school to catch up on. There are schools with upwards of 47% (!) of children who are being kept home, but as long as the staff is able to stay healthy we are suposed to ignore common sense rules that are being followed in other provinces?? I'm more than a little alarmed.
Thank God the virus is mild, for the most part, but it doesn't give anyone the right to change the rules which are in place to keep our children safe.
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To Mom PEI from PEI writes: Read Charlottetown Mom's Post and your Children might remain healthy!
Schools sanitizing more than our homes would and they don't even have Hand Sanitizers in the schools! And there are hundreds of more kids they're in contact with than they are at home!!! Your Logic is UNBELIEVABLE!
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TO Mom PEI Error Correction from PEI writes: Correction: My post had a typing error.
I meant to type on the last line, (Their)Logic ie: Schools is Unbelievable. I didn't mean your logic. Just wanted to clarify.
But I do feel that kids are more prone to catching the Virus in School than at home as there are more that could be carrying it there.
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Angela from PEI writes: As one person stated if the schools were closed children would be kept home and therefore the germs would not be spread. What they found in Australia when they closed down the schools was that the virus actually spread faster b/c realistically most kids do not stay home. So if you are concerned keep your child home from school and make sure when you yourself goes out and touches the grocery cart at the store or opens the door to the mall that you are disinfecting your hands before returning home to your child.
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Chicken Little from PE writes: The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
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judy from argyleshore, pei writes: I have four kids home with what is supposed to be the H1N1. Headache, vomiting in two of them, fevers in all, sore neck in two of them. Poor appetied and all coughing. Two of the children have asthma and are on their puffers full force to help them keep their airways open and to stay out of Emerg. I am very upset because when I called the school to see if there were any H1N1 cases I was told it was confidential by staff member at Eliot River school. Can you imagine confidental, something that could potentially cause death in children with underlying problems like asthma in two of my children. I have no faith in the gov or school board now. My kids are staying home and are not out spreading it around like some are saying if we keep our kids home. Isn't it worth a try to help decrease the infection of the H1N1.
Someone has to hear my message and shut the schools down all of them for the safety of the children. Forget about the money for once and have a heart.
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what to believe from pei writes: As I continue to read articles on this flu I can't help but notice that there are usually several people posting that send their thanks to those trying to handle this flu crisis. I, too, would like to thank them. They are in no way responsible for the mistakes those at the top made in setting priorities. It is hard to believe the top dogs knew where the priorities lay but chose to ignore evidence already presented across Canada - teens died. With so much medical expertise at hand, so much info available to our PEI health officials and our government, why did they choose to take a different route with the flu shots ? What secret info did they have that led them to create their own list of priorities so much different than what we, the news readers, have been exposed to ? Those top decision makers get a thumbs down from me. But thanks to the people doing the actual work. If my children were still school age they would not be in school today nor any other day till this mess is cleared up
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justme from pei writes: Aas a parent YOU have the decision to keep your children home ,
i have had mine home since last thursday and NO she isnt at the mall and else where ,
shes HOME until at least her vaccine has made anti bodies to protect here , and then we will decide after that time what Our next step will be ,
She has Asthma,and call me over cautious but i would rather be over cautious then not cautious enough . when it comes to my girl..
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Calmdownpeople from pe writes: If you want to keep you child home, due to health reason. Then do it, and stop complaining about schools not being closed down. But don't be then sending them to hockey or take them to the store with you or allow friends to come over. Because it's absolutley everywhere not just the schools. I've sent my healthy child to school and not one bit worried, as i've taught him to wash his hands, don't put your hands in your mouth don't drink off other and etc. And god forbid if he gets any kids of flu or cold i'll keep him home from school, so he doesn't spread it around. All our children come down with something or other whether they pick it up at a birthday party or while at school no matter how much extra measurements we take. It's a flu, stay home and take care of your body and rest.
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Tracey from Ottawa writes: JD from PE writes: Just imagine if they had started with the kids last week. How many more kids would have stayed healthy?
The Answer ---- NONE!!!!!!!!
Children under 10 need to have two vaccinations - approximately one month apart - to achieve the proper immune response. Within approximately two weeks of the second dose, they should be protected in the vast majority of cases.
Adults (who only need a single dose of the vaccine, since their bodies already have a mature immune system that is practiced at protecting the body this way) should be protected in 8-10 days after the vaccination.
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Jane H from Charlottetown, PE writes: I feel bad for the parents who have sick children and cannot afford to take the time off of work to look after them - but have no choice.
I also wonder how many parents have the choice to keep their children at home from school even though there have been no school closures because they can't/aren't allowed to take the time off of work. It must be very discouraging.
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me from pe writes: Not only are the NOT closing the schools down, they are OPENING them for an extra 2 days this week that they were SUSPOSED to be closed, There is no hiding from this virus anymore, it's here so be prepared!
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sahara josh from pei, pei writes: Does anyone expect any thing different from the school board after what they did to the poor kids over the schoolsbefore well I suppose Richard collins is laughing again do what your heart tells you dont listen to the school board plus they dont have kids in school they are probable scard they might loose a pay check
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ed from PEI writes: Think of the positive, 30% less vaccine required as the children are immune to it now.
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Jilly from PE writes: I wonder how many of these students that are out are out because of worried parents that are keeping their kids home so they don't get sick?
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lost in Cornwall from PEI writes: I remember seeing East Wiltshire on the top 8 schools break- out list this past weekend. I wonder why it is not on this new list? Anybody know?
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Donald from P.E.I. writes: It is reassuring to see that the school board is willing to reschedule one of the professional (read; goof off day) for the teachers.
I don't understand why they don't give the teachers a whole week to do nothing so the children could be removed from the schools and slow down the spread of the H1N1 virus.
Funny they're willing to close the schools with one flake of snow but not when there's a flu outbreak in the petri dishes they're in charge of.
....and if this is how well the Island medical and political system handles a known virus with a mild negative impact, I can't wait to see how bad they can mess up (body count, anyone? Bring out your dead! ?) when something serious is on the go.
Well, if that ever happens, at least the inmates will be healthy, maybe they can be put to work digging some plague pits for the rest of us...
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shar jones from pei, pei writes: If you kept your child home out of concern. Good for you. But when you call the school to say where they are Give the real reason that way they won't be on the absentee list with ILI. My child had his vaccine last week but will be home, all this week for sure then I will decide based on the absentee rate. This gov't is going to have to answer a lot of questions when a child dies.
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Rodney from PEI writes: Whoo hoo no outbreaks in St.Peter's Consolidated. Oh wait a minute.......
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I don't have kids from PEI writes: But if I Did they sure wouldn't be in school with this many Outbreaks in the PEI Schools! I believe keeping them home would give them a much higher chance of being virus free. Especially given the way this so called H1N1 Pandemic has been handled so far! And now finding out they don't even have so much as Hand Sanitizers in the schools!
Outrageous! Maybe we should take up a collection so they can get some!!
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glen armstrong from summerside, PE writes: Donald from PEI: how many professional development days have you attended, and what school experiences made you so bitter? Your ill-informed observations are as over-the-top as those which bad-mouth Dr Morrison. If J.D. checked the doctor's history, maybe he would understand how lucky we are to have her - exhausted though she is.
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Dano from Chtown from PEI writes: I noticed that in this long list of schools that you have you do not have either UPEI or Holland College, why? I happen to know that there are quite a few cases of H1N1 at Holland College and while I have the vaccine it is still quite worrisome. It seems that people who are sick come to school anyway potentially infecting others. STAY HOME!!! Especially the people in residences STAY IN YOUR ROOMS!! get well while not infecting the rest of the population. If this does not start happening we are gonna have one big mess on our hands.
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Sick On The Sandbar from PE writes: I was recently quite ill for the past two weeks with headache, blocked nose, sore throat, muscles that ached, and a fatigue that was debilitating. When I went to visit my family doctor, he said not to worry as it was just a virus .
No testing, no knowledge if it was really H1N1 that I'd caught or just a 'regular' virus. Now I question: Should I get the H1N1 vaccine or not? Did I have the swine flu or didn't I? I needed to be there for the vaccine during those first days, but I was too sick to go.
Our government originally told us that there is enough vaccine supply for EVERY Canadian. Shouldn't that mean before the population gets struck with the H1N1 virus? They keep changing the rules of the game as they go along, just like the characters in the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes.
With all this media whoopla, there seems to be more bark than bite to this whole fiasco. Imagine the profit that the pharmaceutical company is making off this!!
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S C from PEI writes: This is getting absolutely ridiculous. I felt like getting caught up on what the news on the virus was, so i read this article and most of the comments, and I'm left shaking my head at so many different people. There seems to be a lot of people thinking that they know the facts, or are they just repeating what their neighbors and friends/family have been saying? I'm not saying that i know what to do because obviously i don't, nobody does. In the end you do what you feel is right and let others make their own decisions on what to do. This is the first time in a long time that something like this has happened here on PEI, and the Health officials and school boards know what to do as much as i do. All we can do as citizens is take care of our own, wash your hands..make sure your kids are taking the precautions and so on. If you want to keep your kids home from school...do it, if you think it's ok to send them then do it. What we do know is that nobody has died on PEI because of the H1N1 virus, to this point. I agree that the School Board and Health Officials have not been completely sufficient with this whole situation, but they are people that have families and friends as well, do you really think that they would deliberately allow others to be in danger? People just need to relax, instead of complaining about the fuzzy details and blaming and accusing others, do as much as you can to keep you and your family safe from the flu, that's all we can really do.
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