It took less than a week for the first confirmed case of COVID-19 to pop up at a London school.
Hillcrest Elementary School, near Highbury Avenue and Huron Street, had a case confirmed on Friday, while the Middlesex-London Health Unit said it is investigating "a number" of other potential cases among school-aged children. The news of the cases at Hillcrest came after the Thames Valley District School Board announced Thursday night that cases had been identified at Westfield Public School in Tillsonburg and College Avenue Secondary School in Woodstock.
“We know the fourth wave of the pandemic is here and it is critical that we all do our part to protect school-aged children, especially those who are not yet eligible to be protected by the COVID-19 vaccine,” Medical Officer of Health Dr. Chris Mackie said. “This means continuing to follow public health guidelines that are in place such as completing the screening tool for symptoms before attending school or work every day, staying home if you are ill, wearing a mask and limiting social contacts on evenings, weekends and after school.”
The Health Unit says unvaccinated close contacts have been asked to stay home from the school and quarantine.
Despite the ongoing potential for other cases, the Health Unit says the media will not be alerted about any further school outbreaks or individual positive tests. However, that data will be on its website.
Students, teachers, other staff members and volunteers are being asked to complete a COVID screening questionnaire daily before coming to school.
There were 18 recorded cases on COVID-19 on Friday.
