Manitoba Schools Stop Reporting COVID

WINNIPEG - The province is changing the way it reports COVID-19 in schools.

Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, says because of Omicron, schools in Manitoba will no longer notify families or send letters to close contacts.

Instead, absenteeism will be reported through regular channels and public health officials will investigate if student and staff absences indicate higher COVID activity.

If case counts increase enough, a cohort, class or school could be moved to remote learning for a week.

“The omicron variant isn’t going to go away and we need to learn to live with the virus. This means adjusting our mindset from trying to contain the virus to trying to mitigate our risk,” said Roussin.