WINDSOR, ONT. -- The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board has confirmed a case of COVID-19 at a local school.
The board says one student at Stella Maris Catholic Elementary School in Amherstburg has the virus.
“Following the direction of the health unit, the cohort of students have been dismissed, so they will be self-isolating for the next 14 days,” said Melissa Farran WECDSB superintendent of education and COVID-19 lead.
One classroom has been closed as a result, but according to the board’s website the school itself remains open.
Twenty students will be required to self-isolate. The health unit has confirmed they were close contacts with the one case.
Through their investigation, the health unit has determined the students were at a high risk of exposure.
“The school nurses were on site and they were providing information to parents and answering questions they may have,” Farrand said.
The class has been set up with google classroom so the students’ learning will continue while they self-isolate.
The rest of the school has been informed with a voice message to families, which says if the health unit has not contacted them, they are not a risk and students can return to school tomorrow as usual.
The Ontario government’s management of COVID-19 in schools pperational guide requires school boards to post any outbreaks that occur in schools.
According to the provincial government’s website listing COVID-19 cases in Ontario schools, there are 27 of 4,826 schools across the province that have experienced a reported case of COVID-19 among a student, staff member or unidentified individual.
The case at Stella Maris is the first in a Windsor-Essex school.
