Two dozen students have been sent home after a positive case of COVID-19 was confirmed at a Catholic elementary school in Emeryville.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit announced on Thursday that a cohort of 24 students from St. William Catholic Elementary School has been dismissed.
"We learned of the confirmed case late this afternoon and have notified the affected students that they are not to attend school tomorrow," said Stephen Fields, the communications coordinator with the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board. "We have been working with the health unit by providing lists of students and staff who may have been directly affected. The health unit is contacting any individuals, both students and staff, who may have been affected, and will give directions for them to follow."
Any student that has not been contacted by the health unit is not considered to be a close contact of the positive case and may attend school as per usual.
Parents are encouraged to continue to monitor their children for symptoms of COVID-19 each morning.
"We want to assure parents that we are cooperating with the health unit and doing everything we can to make sure that we continue to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for their children," Fields added.
This is the second Catholic school in the Windsor-Essex district to report a positive case of COVID-19 on Thursday. An outbreak was declared at W.J. Langlois earlier in the day after two students tested positive for the virus. The school remains open but a cohort of 19 students has been dismissed for two weeks.
