HWDSB reports two new COVID-19 cases

Two students from the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board have tested positive for COVID-19.

One student enrolled at Nora Frances Henderson Secondary School tested positive on Wednesday, while another student enrolled at Helen Detwiler Junior Elementary also tested positive.

Public health and school administration have notified everyone identified as close contacts, and students and staff linked to the case have been told to self-isolate for 14 days.

Public health has determined there is no epidemiological link between this and previous cases at our school, and therefore no outbreak will be declared," wrote Timothy Powell-McBride, principal of Nora Frances Henderson Secondary.

The student at Helen Detwiler was not in the building when they were infectious and did not have close contacts within the school.

The province has reported 36 cases of COVID-19 related to schools and child-care centres. The vast majority of cases were transmitted outside the schools and pose a low risk to the school community.

Jacob Lorinc's reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. The funding allows him to report on stories about education.