jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel
Contrary to the rumour mill, Medicine Hat College has no recorded cases of coronavirus, according to administration.
“We have no information that would suggest there’s a confirmed case, or even a presumptive case on campus,” says Mark Keller, MHC’s director of community relations.
At this point, the college is simply reminding students and faculty of Alberta Health Service protocols for mitigating the spread of COVID-19 – wash your hands, don’t touch your face and stay home if you’re feeling ill.
“Our assumption at the moment is someone is doing exactly what they should do – that they’re not feeling well and staying home – and that’s leading to rumours,” said Keller.
To be sure, college administration contacted AHS to inquire whether there was indeed a case and they confirmed there wasn’t.
“We would certainly be informed if there was,” Keller said.
In the event of a confirmed case at MHC, Keller says the college “would act very rapidly within the advice of experts from Alberta Health Services,” whether that means closing down campus or changing schedules.
He said the college isn’t particularly concerned at this time about international students carrying the virus.
“The disease isn’t affecting people because of their nationality, it is affecting people because of exposure to the virus elsewhere,” said Keller. “The international students on campus now have been here for quite some time, so they are not at an extra risk of exposure.”
The next intake of international students won’t occur until September, so the college has months ahead to determine how they will approach it, he added.
“Obviously, incoming students and individuals from other areas of the world will be part of a community and national protocol, but from our perspective at the moment there are no scheduled new intakes of international students that we need to be worried about,” Keller said.
For those international students who are slated to return to their country of origin in the next month, Keller said the school doesn’t have a specific policy, but floated the “speculative” possibility of the college making special accommodations in some cases.
“I’m presuming those individuals would need to look at their family situations and what the situation is in the country they plan on going home to or visit. At this stage, I would categorize that as an individual decision,” he said. “If someone found themselves in a position where they could not return home, we would deal with that on a case-by-case basis.”
