COVID-19 cases in schools and child care centres

This report was published on Ontario Government's website and it provides a summary of COVID-19 activity in publicly-funded Ontario schools. Cumulative totals represent all total cases reported to the Ministry of Education as of September 5, 2020, including resolved cases.

‍

In-person school attendance is optional for the 2020-2021 school year for both elementary and secondary students. This allows you to make decisions that work best for your family.

School boards offer remote learning for all students who choose this option.

Elementary schools: kindergarten to Grade 8

Elementary schools are reopening 5 days a week with increased health and safety measures.

Students will be in cohorts, which means they will be with the same group of children throughout the school day.

Secondary schools: Grades 9 to 12

All secondary schools are reopening with increased health and safety measures. Students’ timetables will limit their direct and indirect contact with people at school.

Approximately 70% of secondary students will begin the 2020-2021 school year with a combination of in-school and remote learning days.

In-school days

Schools will maximize opportunities for in-person classes.

Secondary schools in school boards designated by the province will open with class cohorts of approximately 15 students.

Remote learning days

Secondary school students will be given curriculum-linked work on remote learning days and, where possible, will participate in synchronous, real-time learning with their teacher and classmates for a part of each school day. Synchronous learning is when a group of students take part in a learning activity at the same time.

Mandatory self-screening for students, teachers and staff

Students, teachers and school staff need to check for symptoms of illness every day before going to school.

You can screen your child or yourself by taking the COVID-19 school screening. The results will tell you:

• if you should go to school or stay home
• what to do next

Health and safety protections at schools

Schools are taking a variety of steps to keep a healthy and safe environment for students and staff.

Tools and support

Schools will have:

• signs to reinforce self-screening for symptoms of illness, hand hygiene, physical distancing and one-way foot traffic in hallways and bathrooms
• hand sanitizer at key locations throughout the school
• changes to how people enter and exit the school
• changes to how students use playgrounds and school grounds

Schools and school boards are also being supported by up to 625 new nurses in public health units to facilitate public health and preventative measures, including screening, testing, tracing and mitigation strategies.

Hand hygiene

Schools will:

• train students on appropriate hand hygiene
• schedule breaks for students to wash their hands
• have hand sanitizer available at key locations throughout the school

Masks

Students

Grades 4 to 12

Students in Grades 4 to 12 must wear non-medical or cloth masks indoors in school, including in hallways and during classes, as well as on school transportation.

Kindergarten to Grade 3

Students in kindergarten to Grade 3 are encouraged, but not required, to wear non-medical or cloth masks in indoor spaces, including school transportation.

Some school boards may have additional requirements for students in these grades. Check with your school or school board for more information about their requirements.

Teachers and staff

We are providing medical masks and eye protection, such as face shields, for all teachers and other school board staff.

All staff in schools must wear masks, with reasonable exceptions for medical conditions.

School staff who are regularly in close contact with students will be provided with all appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).

Learn more about face coverings, including exceptions and how to properly fit, wear, remove and clean your non-medical face mask.

Visitors

Non-essential visitors, including parents, are not allowed in schools.

Only essential visitors are allowed to enter schools. Essential visitors include people who:

• ensure school safety, such as through inspections by the fire marshal’s office or by public health
• provide school-based health services to students

Recordkeeping

Schools must keep records of:

• classes or cohorts
• seating charts
• bus cohorts
• daily essential visitors who are approved to enter the school

Schools will provide these records to public health for contact tracing.

Read the guide to reopening Ontario schools.

If someone becomes ill at school

If anyone becomes ill at a school, they will:

• be immediately separated from others, in a separate room if possible, until they can go home
• be provided with a medical mask
• continue to be supervised according to the school’s usual policy
• be asked to maintain physical distancing
• be unable to take school or public transportation

Learn about COVID-19 cases in Ontario schools.

If your child becomes ill at school

If your child becomes ill at school, they must go home.

The school will contact you and you’ll need to arrange for them to get home, in a way that does not include public transportation. We encourage you to have a plan for this ahead of time.

COVID-19 test

If your child becomes ill at school, you should consult their health care provider. They may recommend your child get tested for COVID-19. If you or your child is tested for COVID-19, it’s easy to get the results.

Returning to school

After negative test results

Students who test negative for COVID-19, or who are diagnosed by a health care provider as having something else, can return to school when:

• they have been free of fever for 24 hours
• other symptoms are improving

You do not need a doctor’s note or proof of a negative test result for your child to return to school.

After positive test results

Students who test positive for COVID-19 must isolate for 14 days and cannot return to school until the local public health unit advises that it’s safe. Learn how to self-isolate and care for someone with COVID-19.

Students who feel well enough can do remote learning from home. Contact your school or school board to learn about remote learning.

If a COVID-19 case is confirmed at your school

The local public health unit will determine what happens if a COVID-19 case is confirmed at your school.

Check for notices on the school or board website

School boards and schools will post a notice on their website if a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19. Search for a COVID-19 advisory section on their website.

No personal information will be posted.

Learn about current COVID-19 cases in Ontario schools.

Working with public health

Schools are working with public health units to help them identify who has been in close contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19.

This means that a school may provide the public health unit with your child’s name and information about their:

• class cohort
• school bus cohort
• child care cohort

Schools will provide information in accordance with all applicable legislation, including the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

If there is risk of exposure

The public health unit will assess risk of exposure. Those at high risk will need to isolate for 14 days.

If your child was in close contact with a person who tested positive, the public health unit will tell you that your child must isolate for 14 days. They’ll also tell you if your child or family need to get tested for COVID-19.

If your child is feeling well enough, the school will give them remote learning activities they can do at home during their 14-day isolation period.

Not everyone may have been exposed

Since students will be grouped in class cohorts, the public health unit may determine that your child has not been in close contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19 from another class or part of the school.

The public health unit will advise you to monitor your child for symptoms, but your child will be able to keep going to school as long as they are not ill and the school is open.

Closing classes or schools

If the local public health unit declares an outbreak, they will determine what happens next. This could include closing classrooms, cohorts or an entire school.

If an outbreak is declared in a school, the public health unit will help determine which groups of students need to be sent home or if a partial or full school closure is required.

Declaring an outbreak

An outbreak may be declared by the local public health unit when:

• within a 14-day period, there are two or more laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases in students, staff or other visitors with an epidemiological link (for example, if cases are in the same class or cohort)
• at least one case could have been infected in the school (including on a school bus or in before or after school care)

What your local public health unit will do

The local public health unit is responsible for:

• determining if an outbreak exists
• declaring an outbreak
• providing direction on how to control the outbreak in collaboration with the school and other relevant partners, such as before and after school programs
• identifying who to test, in alignment with the province’s broader testing strategy
• determining who is at high-risk of infection and needs to self-isolate
• deciding if a partial or full school closure is required
• declaring when an outbreak is over

Read the guide for schools on COVID-19 outbreak management.

‍

Ontario schools have been closed since March 23 due to COVID-19. :

(iStock.com/manonallard)