With the majority of students across the province heading back to classrooms in less than two weeks, the province has developed guidelines on how schools should deal with a possible COVID-19 outbreak.
The Ontario government released its Operational Guidance: COVID-19 Management in Schools document on Wednesday, which was created to help schools identify and isolate COVID-19 cases, reduce the spread of the virus in schools, and prevent or minimize outbreaks.
The document was developed in consultation with public health experts, including Ontario's chief medical officer of health and Dr. Dirk Huyer, who will be serving as the coordinator of provincial outbreak response.
"The Government of Ontario needs to be prepared to identify and mitigate outbreaks, especially in settings such as schools and child care centres," said Dr. Huyer in a news release. "Through enhanced planning across government, we will be positioned to intervene quickly to prevent outbreaks and the spread of COVID-19."
The new government document instructs all school boards and schools to create a COVID-19 advisory section on their websites in an effort to keep communities informed.
As well, the guidelines outline that it will be the role of local public health units to conduct contact tracing and to declare any outbreaks. The health units will also make the decision on when to close classrooms or schools when necessary.
According to the province, an outbreak will be declared if there have been two or more confirmed cases of COVID-19 that are linked.
"Just as many schools have fire safety and emergency response plans, we have been working hand in hand with the medical experts to develop a plan that will allow schools to quickly and effectively find, isolate and contain a COVID-19 case or outbreak," said Premier Doug Ford in the release. "With medical experts helping to develop and support our plan, parents, teachers and educators can be confident every measure has been taken to put the health and safety of students and staff first."
The school community will be notified in the event a student or staff member has tested positive for the virus, however, schools will be required to respect individual privacy. Parents will also be notified if any staff or student tests positive.
Personal protective equipment will be provided to any ill student while they are at school and they will also be required to isolate.
While many school boards across the province have indicated that children must be screened for the virus daily before school, the provincial government has indicated in its guidelines that this is a critical role for parents.
Ontario children have not been back inside the classroom since March when all schools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of students across the province will return to schools beginning September 8.
