On Saturday, KFL&A Public Health notified the community that a student at Winston Churchill Public School tested positive for COVID-19 on March 13th. According to the press release, the case is being identified as a Variant of Concern (VOC).
Public Health Ontario classifies a case as a Variant of Concern when a virus changes in a way that has a clinical or public health significance. More specifically, it’s considered a variant of concern when it affects spread, the severity of the disease, vaccine effectiveness and diagnostic testing.
At this time, the board has not identified who has tested positive for COVID-19. However, the individual was connected to a cohort who were dismissed on March 11th. Due to this, the particular cohort continues to self isolate at home.
The statement added that some previously dismissed classes have been cleared to return to school. “A previously dismissed class cohort identified as contacts of a contact of a positive COVID-19 VOC has been cleared to return to school next week as Public Health has determined there is no further risk to that cohort,” wrote the LDSB. “ Those students may return to school on Monday, March 15, 2021 provided they pass daily COVID-19 screening.”
While the school has announced the positive case, KFL&A Public Health did not disclose the case on Saturday. Public Health will not update their dashboard on weekends while in the Green Zone, however they will announce new cases on their social media pages.
As of March 12th, there are 27 active COVID-19 cases in KFL&A.
