First massive screening for COVID-19 at elementary school underway in Quebec City

Quebec will keep schools open Teachers and parents associations are hoping the ministry of education will hear that their staff are getting fatigued by measures.

QUEBEC CITY — A first massive COVID-19 screening operation is underway at the Sans-Frontiere elementary school in Quebec City.

A mobile clinic has been deployed following an outbreak.

No less than 305 students and staff members will undergo a test by Thursday evening, said a spokesperson for the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale.

At 5 p.m. the day before, 117 samples had already been taken in the establishment's gymnasium, added Mathieu Boivin in an email, without being able to specify the number of confirmed cases.

A school closure is not being considered for the moment, he added.

According to the most recent government data, a total of 410 cases have been diagnosed across 237 schools since the start of the school year.

Of these, 322 infections have involved students and 88 have affected staff.

However, the exact number of cases linked to each establishment is not specified.

As of Tuesday, the spread of the virus had caused the closure of 141 classes.

The Ministry of Education figures concern preschool, primary and secondary schools throughout the public and private networks.

-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2020.