“The Lord is always there waiting to give us his love: it is an amazing thing, one which never
-Pope Francis
ceases to surprise us!”
Good afternoon, Parents,
I hope you had a blessed Easter and are looking forward to May flowers! As we continue to experience the ebb and flow of Covid-19 as well as the flu season. We want to assure parents that we continue to be diligent about the school cleaning, OLM’s Safety Protocols and following the advice of Fraser Health, the CDC and the PHO. The staff and I are so grateful for the support of parents in helping us a reduce the spread of infection.
Not every illness is Covid-19:
Typical winter/spring illnesses have not disappeared! In fact, a wave of stomach flu is currently making its way through the Lower Mainland.
Although there are a lot of similar symptoms, Covid-19 and the flu are not the same.
Covid-19 is mainly an upper respiratory tract infection. Therefore, key symptoms of Covid-19 may differentiate it from influenza. Those symptoms include:
- shortness of breath
- cough
- loss of smell and taste
BOTH Covid 19 and the Stomach flu may include:
- sudden onset of nausea
- vomiting
- non-bloody diarrhea
- stomach cramps
Other symptoms may also include:
- fever
- chills
- headache
- muscle aches
- fatigue
How do I know for sure if it’s Covid-19?
- use the mandatory Daily Health Check as a screening tool
- take a rapid test provided by the government and obtainable at most pharmacies.
***please note that a negative test does not guarantee that a person is not infected. Rather, it functions to detect whether a contagious amount of the virus is present in their system.
I’m still not sure. What do I do now?
If your child is experiencing any symptoms of illness, regardless of their cause, the best practice is to keep them at home. Make sure that they get plenty of rest, drink plenty of fluids, and take appropriate medication for fever and symptom relief if needed.
Your child should remain at home until their symptoms have significantly improved, and they feel well enough to go about their regular activities without difficulty.
Covid 19 is not the only illness that affects our community health and wellbeing. If your child feels sick or unwell, they should stay at home. This is important to stop the spread of all illnesses.
We thank all of our families for doing the incredibly vital work of helping to keep our OLM community safe by following best practice for the management of illness.