An investigation into COVID-19 transmission at a North York school has prompted health officials to recommend the temporary dismissal of students starting next week.
On Friday evening, Toronto Public Health said that following an ongoing COVID-19 investigation, students at Eitz Chaim – Viewmount Branch, located just south of Bathurst Street and Glencairn Avenue, should not attend in-person classes or activities as of Dec. 6.
“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 said in a tweet.
TPH said that it is working with the school to notify close contacts and asked those affected to stay home, monitor for symptoms, and get tested.
Meanwhile, TPH also said it had identified at least two COVID-19 cases linked between St. Pius X C.S, Our Lady of Sorrow CS, and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati CS, leading the agency to declare outbreaks in those settings.
“We're carefully investigating & following our process of working w/our school community to notify close contacts,” TPH said.
At the same time, TPH said that a French school in Etobicoke that was forced closed by a COVID-19 outbreak last month has been given the green light to reopen on Monday. Students at Micheline-Saint-Cyr Elementary are asked to continue screening for COVID-19 symptoms and rapid antigen tests are being offered as an “additional layer of protection.”
Another 172 cases of COVID-19 were reported in Ontario schools Friday. As it stands, 792 of the province’s 4,844 schools have a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus and nine facilities are closed as a result.
