A Catholic school in Etobicoke will temporarily be closed to in-person learning as city health officials investigate COVID-19 cases linked to the school.
Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) posted to Twitter that following a recommendation from Toronto Public Health (TPH), the Transfiguration of Our Lord Catholic School will be dismissed starting Friday "as a precautionary measure due to an ongoing #COVID19 investigation."
According to the TCDSB dashboard, there are 10 cases at the school located near Kipling Avenue and Dixon Road -- eight among students and two among staff members.
"We are recommending a whole school dismissal as a precautionary measure to protect staff, students and the community from further COVID-19 transmission within the school," TPH tweeted.
"TPH will continue to work with our school community & have notified close contacts & ask them to stay home, monitor for symptoms & get tested. We'll work closely with our school partners to determine when in-person learning will resume."
Toronto Public Health also declared outbreaks at Ellesmere-Statton Public School, Shaughnessy Public School and Wilkinson Junior Public School on Thursday evening.
Earlier in the day, TCDSB announced a policy mandating vaccination for all students ages 12 and up who want to participate in competitive indoor sports this winter.
The Ontario Ministry of Education reported 164 new school-related COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the number of active infections associated with Ontario public schools to 1,748.
- with files from Chris Fox