Schools in Lambton and Kent counties are holding their own when it comes to COVID-19 cases as the province enters what many experts say is the 6th wave of COVID-19.
Lambton-Kent District School Board Education Director John Howitt said there's been a "blip" in student and teacher absenteeism this week at local public schools, but there haven't been any school closures to date. However, Howitt said there have been some reallocations of central staff and administration to cover for teacher absenteeism.
"We have had to use some central staff this week to prop up our occasional teachers list to ensure there are teachers and support staff in every room and education workers in every room," said Howitt.
Howitt said he is not sure if the recent increase in school absenteeism is due to the March Break or the Omicron variant.
"We're not through it yet but we have not hit a threshold where we're required to report to the health unit nor a threshold that would require the closure of any classes or schools," Howitt said.
St. Clair Catholic District School Board Education Director Scott Johnson reports that his schools are doing great when it comes to sick days caused by the virus. Johnson said there hasn't been any reallocation of central staff at the Catholic board to cover for sick teachers.
"We're still around seven per cent of our staff being absent and around 11 per cent of our students, which is something that we've been able to manage in-house and we haven't seen that bump just yet," said Johnson.
Chatham-Kent Health Alliance is reporting four patients in the hospital being primarily treated for COVID-19 and none of them is in the ICU.
Chatham-Kent Public Health said there are 39 new cases on Friday, an increase, but no new COVID-19 deaths or new outbreaks.
Ontario reported 18 more deaths and 804 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Officials said 97 of the patients are on ventilators.
There are also 3,519 new cases of COVID-19 across Ontario on Friday.
