An elementary school in St. Thomas has become the second within the Thames Valley District school board (TVDSB) to confirm a case of COVID-19.
Southwestern Public Health, the region's health unit, notified the school board that a person at Mitchell Hepburn Public School on Raven Avenue tested positive for the virus. In order to protect the privacy of the infected individual, the health unit will not be releasing whether they are a student or a staff member.
The school board has notified all staff, parents, and guardians about the case.
There is no evidence to suggest the virus was contracted at the school, the health unit indicated to the board.
"Thames Valley is following all of the health and safety protocols recommended by public health and the Ministry of Education,” Education Director Mark Fisher said in a statement issued Tuesday. “Mitchell Hepburn remains a safe place to attend school.”
The school remains open as the case only affects one class.
All students and staff who may have come into close contact with the infected person have been contacted by the health unit. They have been asked to remain in self-isolation for 14 days.
The confirmed case at Mitchell Hepburn comes just over a week after a person at H.B. Beal Secondary School contracted the virus. A probable case of COVID-19 was also identified at the St. Thomas Community Christian School last Friday.
The Thames Valley board is tracking all confirmed COVID-19 cases at its schools on a dedicated webpage. It provides the number of confirmed cases within each of the board’s elementary and high schools, as well as the number of classrooms closed as a result. There is also a section that indicates whether a school is closed due to an outbreak.
