Record number of students out sick as Quebec deals with triple illness threat

Quebec is dealing with a triple threat of COVID-19, the flu and RSV, and pediatric hospital ERs are overflowing.

With this, the province is seeing a record number of students out sick – almost at the same level seen last winter as Quebec experienced its fifth wave of the pandemic – when health measures were still in place.

About one in ten Quebec students is out of school.

And Sophie Perreault’s eight and ten-year-old were recently among them.

“They were out of school for, Antonio for over a week, and Grace for a few days,” said Perreault.

She considers herself one of the lucky parents though, saying she works for herself and is grateful for her in-laws who can care for her children when needed.

“Growing up I’m sure you remember being home and your mom or your grandma or your aunt making you soup and feeling so cozy,” she said. “We’ve all been sick at home.”

“My husband was saying. However, what do single parents do that don’t have in-laws?”

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A total of 126,325 students were absent on Nov. 14 in Quebec schools – according to data provided to CityNews by the Ministry of Education.

That’s 10.14 per cent of the province’s preschool, elementary, secondary, vocational training and adult education students.

Of this total, 7,401 students were absent for reasons related to cold/flu and COVID-19 (without testing).

Of this total, 895 absences were COVID-19-related with a positive test.

Roughly 118,000 students were absent for reasons not related to COVID-19.

“I’ve had anywhere between 5 to 7 kids absent in any of my classes,” explained Bianca Frattasi, teacher at Westmount High School. “So definitely in a class of 22, take away seven kids, their absence is really noticeable in the classroom.”

And it doesn’t end at the high school level.

While Quebec’s Ministry of Higher Education told CityNews that the number of absences in colleges and universities is not collected, Dawson College student, Brendan Schwartz, has been out sick for a week and says he’s noticed that he isn’t the only one.

“They’re coming up to finals pretty soon. So it’s hard to watch that because he has to be able to contact the teachers and make up the work that he’s missed,” said Heather Fradin, Mother of Brendan Schwartz.

Schwartz adding, “You have to do that, and on top of that, you have to focus on feeling better. So sometimes it could be a little bit of a challenge.”

While Quebec health officials are strongly recommending people wear masks in public, the measure is not obligatory and does not apply to daycares and schools.

“My biggest piece of advice, and the one that I give students who are emailing me anxiously about missing work is: your health comes first,” said Frattasi. “Your mental health, your physical health, for the students and for the teachers.”