WINDSOR, ONT. -- Thirty-one students were dismissed from a Catholic elementary school in Walkerville Thursday due to a “high-risk exposure” to COVID-19.
The Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board says it was at the direction of the health unit that the students from St. Anne French Immersion Catholic Elementary School were dismissed. The board says 24 of the students were from one class, and an additional seven students from a busing cohort were also dismissed.
“We have been working with the Health Unit by providing lists of students and staff who may have been directly affected,” Stephen Fields, WECDSB communications coordinator said in a news release. “The health unit is contacting any individuals, both students and staff, who may have been affected, and will give directions for them to follow.”
Nurses from the Windsor Essex County Health Unit were on site at the Walkerville school Thursday afternoon to offer information and support to parents as they were picking up their children.
A voice message and letters to the entire school community were sent out letting parents know if they had not been contacted by the health unit then they have not been identified as close contacts and their children can continue to attend school as usual.
The board has advised parents to continue to monitor their children for symptoms of COVID-19 each morning and to keep them at home and contact their healthcare provider if they are sick.
“We want to assure parents that we are cooperating with the health unit and doing everything we can to make sure that we continue to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for their children,” Fields said.
According to the WECDSB website, there is one active confirmed student case of COVID-19, closing one classroom but the school remains open.
