Nearly 50 Quebec schools have at least 1 case of COVID-19, but no outbreaks so far

Quebec schools have been open for more than a week, and 46out of 3,100 in the province have at least one case of COVID-19, according to government figures released Friday.

"I think we can say that it went well for the first week, but we aren't going to lower our guard, that's for sure," Quebec Health Minister Christian Dub said.

In most of the 46cases, the staff or student was infected outside of school, he said. He would not specify how many cases there were in each school but said none had turned into outbreaks, with widespread transmission within a school.

"There are no outbreaks so far,"Dubsaid.

The minister said the government was releasing the list of schools with cases in order to be transparent and hoped it wouldn't lead tostigmatization.

The list includes public and private schools that had cases betweenAug. 26 and Sept. 3.

Montreal is most affected

The list, which is available online, does reveal the dates that each positive case was confirmed. Initially, the government said there were 47 schools affected, but late Friday revised that to 46.

Montreal is the most-affected region, with 14 schools reporting at least one case. Montrgiehas eight schools, Capitale-Nationalehas seven, and Laval has six.

The Eastern Townships,Outaouais and Abitibi-Tmiscamingue regions have three cases each. TheLanaudire region and the Laurentians have one each.

The government vowedto update the list regularly, publishing numbers Tuesday to Saturday.

WATCH | COVID-19 outbreaks in Quebec schools cause for concern:

COVID-19 outbreaks in Quebec schools cause for concern

4 years ago

Duration 1:59

With students returning to school across most of Canada, there have already been problems with COVID-19 infecting both teachers and students. In Quebec, which has already reported dozens of cases, health experts call the back-to-school plan inadequate, and warn that the spread of COVID-19 could accelerate quickly.

In a statement Friday, the government says each time a case is reported in a school, all parents receive a warningfrom the school's administration, as do staff.

In cases where there are concerns of contact between students or staff, everyone in a given class might be told to go into self-isolation and monitor for symptoms in order to prevent further spread of the virus.

According to health authorities, figuring out who needs to be isolated depends on several factors that are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Number of cases in line with expectations

Quebec was the first province to welcome students back amid the pandemic.All schools, universities, daycares and CEGEPs in Quebec closed in mid-March as the government tried to stop the spread ofCOVID-19.

While many schools around the province reopened later in the spring,schools in the greater Montreal area only reopened in the fall.

Dr. Richard Masse, a senior public health official, said the province knew what to expect based on their experiencereopening elementary schools outside the greater Montreal areain the spring.

The gradual reopening of daycares and kindergartens over the summer did not result in a notable uptick in cases, Masse said. He said that success shows the situation is manageable.

The number of cases reportedso far this fall aligns with the government's expectations,Masse said.