Banff 
Alberta has announced that the province is extending winter break for K-12 students to January 10th.
The schools were to open next week on January 3rd or 4th depending on various Alberta school boards.
The province says the extra time will allow school authorities time to gather additional data to assess staffing implications and the potential operational impacts of the current COVID-19 situation.
Alberta is also cancelling the January diploma exams which were to begin on January 11th. Education Minister Adriana LaGrange says a decision regarding April and June diploma exams will be made later in 2022.
LaGrange announcing the decision said, “With the COVID situation rapidly evolving, so too must our response. This pause will give teachers, school administrators and school authorities more time to plan for students to return safely to learning. Under very challenging circumstances, I am very grateful to parents, students, teachers and education partners for their flexibility during the pandemic.”
Free Masks & Rapid Test Kits:
To prevent the spread of the Omicron variant, Alberta is planning to distribute 8.6 million rapid tests and 16.5 million masks to schools, starting the week of January 10.
This will include two five-test kits to each student and staff member and distribution of approximately eight weeks supply of medical masks in a phased manner across the entire education system.
Alberta says further information regarding the distribution of masks and medical kits will be shared later next week.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw said there were an estimated 4,000 cases of COVID-19 reported on Thursday. There are 371 people in hospitals due to COVID-19 related illnesses including 48 in ICUs. The province has reported a 30% positivity rate.
