Covid-19 Outbreak Declared In Area School – 4 Schools In Ontario Shutdown

An outbreak has been declared at Northside Christian School; this will be posted on our website (https://www.hpph.ca/en/index.aspx) according to our process for reporting school outbreaks

The school is near Listowel

An outbreak is declared in a school when there are two or more cases of COVID-19 in students and/or staff (or other visitors) within a 14-day period, where at least one case could have contracted the virus in the school.

Due to the nature of the school, one cohort could not be identified and therefore HPPH has closed the school until at least December 1. HPPH will determine when the outbreak is over and when the school can be reopened.

There have been confirmed cases reported at other elementary schools, including Anne Hathaway PS in Stratford, St. Ambrose School in Stratford, and a few private Christian schools in Huron and Perth.

In the case of Anne Hathaway, it was determined that the person did attend school while infectious, and therefore a cohort has been dismissed. HPPH continues its contact tracing work and following up with affected families

St. Ambrose: there was no school exposure so no cohort has been dismissed.

A case very recently identified, related to Goderich District Collegiate Institute. The cohort has been dismissed as per regular protocol. We are still in the early investigation of this case.

HPPH continues to work closely with the school boards, staff and families at these schools

Provincial data continues shows that COVID is not transmitting rapidly in schools

86% of schools have no reported active/current cases and at present, only 4 schools (0.08% ) across the province are closed due to outbreaks