With 56 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Alberta, Lethbridge College is moving classes to an online platform. A release from the college says classes will be suspended Monday and Tuesday and moved to online delivery on March. 18. All K-12 classes in the province will also be cancelled.
“While no cases of COVID-19 have been linked to our campus, we want to take proactive steps to help during this time. We know that these are unprecedented times. And we know that many of you are feeling stressed and anxious about how this global pandemic is affecting our homes, communities and the entire world,” reads the update sent to students and staff on Sunday.
The college said it is following recommendations from Alberta Health Services (AHS) and the Alberta government.
“Our biggest concern right now is the health and safety of our students — we don’t want them all getting sick, so we are making sure that we are doing everything we can to prevent that,” said Frank Zappone, occupational health and safety lead at the college, prior to the cancellation of classes.
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“We are going by what Alberta Health Services is advising us to do,” he said, adding that they are watching the virus closely.
With over 50 confirmed cases in the province, two Alberta patients are in intensive care — Canada still has only one recorded death due to the virus. A man in his 80s with underlying health issues died on March 8 in Vancouver.
Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu said on Wednesday that between 30 per cent and 70 per cent of the population of Canada could acquire the COVID-19 virus. Though the vast majority will recover, she said Canadians must work together to protect the vulnerable population.
According to the WHO, the average global mortality rate is 3.4 per cent. This number may seem insignificant, but at the low estimate of 30 per cent of Canadians being infected, that could result in 383,418 deaths.
“The reason I personally feel safe is because it is a virus, just like influenza is a virus and there are precautionary measure you can take. The other thing is that the recovery from the coronavirus is about 94 per cent,” said Harmoni Jones, manager of Wellness Services at Lethbridge College.
Jones said the first step the college took to prevent the spread of COVID-19 was to increase cleaning and sanitization of high-traffic areas. Preventative measures such as staying home when sick and proper hand washing are encouraged.
“We have also looked at large events and whether we should continue with [them] and what are some precautionary measures we would need to put in place if we are going to have large social gatherings,” said Jones.
The college has cancelled its annual Bridging Cultures event, which was set to take place at the end of the month. It is still unclear whether convocation will go ahead as planned.
Jones said students should familiarize themselves with Canvas and how they can use it to its full potential. She also suggests students make sure they have what they need, in case they have to stay home for two weeks due to sickness or potential infection.
“There [has] been discussion around how we can make it so it is not stigmatized, so that people do feel comfortable staying home — but there have only been preliminary discussions around that,” said Jones.
The college launched a web page which will communicate all COVID-19 related news to staff and students. It can be found on Lethbirdgecollege.ca.
Zappone said one of the school’s biggest worries is making sure graduating students are able to finish their education.
“We want to make sure that that happens. We’re looking at doing everything we can,” he said.
