Faculty/Staff Coronavirus (Health Office Improvements) Update, January 30

Dear Faculty and Staff,

First of all, I’d like to congratulate you all on the calm, caring, and pragmatic manner you have approached these two days at school. An indicator of student and parent confidence is that yesterday 36% of students were absent and today 17% are absent (that number includes students at home, students still traveling and students who have regular illnesses) which is typical for the week of Tet.

Nursing Office Manager

We are delighted to announce that we have engaged Lisa Chute to serve as Nursing Office Manager for the foreseeable future. Lisa has more than 25 years of nursing experience in health administration, nursing education, public health, acute care, home care, and corrections. Her professional career includes teaching nurses at the University of Calgary and Queen’s University, working as an Infectious Disease Nurse in Canada, and writing policies and procedures for health services in the community.

Lisa will assist and advise the nursing staff as they implement policies and protocols to keep the SSIS community safe during this potential 2019-nCoV outbreak. She will be primarily stationed in the HS Nurse’s Office.

Important Reminders to Students

Please remind your students to:

• Wash hands before every class and before meals

• Not share snacks/ food or utensils/ drinking glasses with each other

• Not to touch their face (mouth, nose, eyes) with unwashed hands

Updated Procedures for Health Checks

A child with a temperature at or above 37.8° will be taken to the nurse’s office.  After a second temperature check, if a fever exists, the child will be sent home immediately and must see a doctor.

Additionally, all students who exhibit any symptoms of a respiratory illness (e.g., cough, runny nose, sore throat, difficulty breathing) will be referred to the Nurse’s Office.  The Nurse will do a detailed assessment and history to determine if the child should be sent home.

A slight change in practice: Once sent home, a child may return to school after being fever free/symptom-free for 48 hours – without the use of fever-reducing medication or provide medical clearance from a doctor before returning to school.  The child will need to be screened by the Nurse and/or the medical certificate reviewed by the Nurse before returning to the classroom.

Have a great Friday tomorrow. Take good care out there!

Catriona