Ten more Hamilton students and one staff member test positive for COVID-19
Ten students and one staff member in Hamilton's schools have tested positive for COVID-19 - marking the third day in a row of double-digit increases in infections in the city.
Nora Frances Henderson Secondary School announced its fifth case in the last three weeks after a staff member tested positive for the virus.
Public health has determined no connection between the cases and an outbreak will not be declared, principal Timothy Powell wrote in a letter to parents.
Students and staff connected to the case have been instructed to self-isolate for 14 days, wrote Powell. Contact tracing is being conducted by Hamilton public health.
A Cecil B. Stirling Elementary School student, an Eastdale Elementary School student, a Gordon Price Elementary School student, a remote learning student and two students from Saltfleet District High School have also tested positive, according to the public board.
A fourth student at St. Jean de Brebeuf Catholic Secondary School has tested positive. They were last in the school on Dec. 9, according to a letter to families.
Despite the four cases - that have closed three classrooms - an outbreak has not been declared at the school, as no epidemiological link" has been found between the infections, stated the board.
At the city's Catholic board, two adult learners at the St. Charles Adult and Continuing Education Centre on East 5th Street have tested positive.
Both individuals were last in the school on Dec. 3, but Hamilton public health has indicated that the two cases do not constitute an outbreak," according to the board.
A student at St. John Paul II Catholic Elementary School has also tested positive for COVID-19. They were last in the building on Dec. 9 but there are no school-related close contacts" for the case, stated the board.
There are currently 19 active cases of COVID-19 in the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, with 14 cases in students and five in staff. Eleven schools have cases of the virus.
Fallon Hewitt is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: fhewitt@thespec.com