Dear PRI Staff,
Thank you as always, for all that you do and your continuing resilience and commitment to the safety of our community.
Status of the isolation of Teams 2 and 5
We are still awaiting the PCR test results sent to WDG Public Health earlier this week.
But I am happy to share that the RAT tests we’ve done with the students both today and yesterday have all been negative.
The students are doing well, albeit somewhat stir-crazy by now. A big thank you to staff who have done a remarkable job to keep them engaged and with spirits up.
In background on our planned approach in consultation with public health:
- We submitted an isolation surveillance approach to WDGPH that included a PCR test, which was undertaken last Wednesday and provided to our drop-off location first thing Thursday morning for transport to the laboratory.
- If/as we received PCR results that were all negative, we would undertake rapid antigen tests (RAT) on Saturday and Sunday.
- If all these tests were negative, we would release Teams 2 and 5 from isolation and manage them as a distinct cohort until Wednesday, January 12th, which would be 10 days since any suspected exposure.
We are doing our best to chase PCR test results from WDGPH, but as I’m sure you are all seeing in the news testing capacity is behind across the province.
Assuming we do not receive those results today, we are proposing to WDGPH that we extend the isolation for another day, and if RAT results remain negative tomorrow, we would release the teams from isolation and maintain that cohort until Wednesday as originally planned.
Of course, should we receive a positive PCR result or RAT result tomorrow, we will change that approach accordingly. We will make you aware as soon as we have any further updates to share.
Staff COVID Blog on Our Website
We will continue to share information with these emails to all staff.
We have also created a password-protected Blog page on the website where you can find the most recent COVID communications and additional information, like the most recent communication to families, tools from Public Health, and relevant updates from the province:
Use this link: https://pineriverinstitute.com/staff-updates/
Password: COVIDUpdates2022
The page can also be reached from the website homepage: hover over ‘Work For Us’ and choose ‘Staff Updates’:
Password: COVIDUpdates2022
Remaining Vigilant with Protocols
Rapid Testing
Please continue to follow the RAT program we have in place. This process of completing a rapid test at home prior to shift has allowed us to avert other possible high-risk contact issues.
To reiterate:
· Full time staff- rapid test on Mon and Wed
· Overnight, part time, relief- rapid test 2x if shift days are consecutive and each time if shifts are separated by more than 2 days
· Weekend-rapid test prior to shift on Saturday
Maintaining Protocols at All Times
We cannot stress enough how important it is that all Staff wear masks AND visors/eye-protection at all times when engaged with students AND OTHER STAFF at a distance of less than 2 metres.
If you have a medical exemption from wearing visors/eye-protection than you can simply never be within 2 metres of the students or fellow staff.
All of this is to keep yourselves and each other as safe as possible. This also minimizes high-risk contacts and therefore unnecessary isolation that is hard on everyone.
We continue to work closely and consult directly WDG Public Health to main the highest level of safety we can for our community and for the program to continue to thrive.