Two new COVID outbreaks reported in Hamilton schools

The City of Hamilton is reporting two new COVID-19 outbreaks in Hamilton's schools - one at Eastdale Elementary School and the other at R.A. Riddell Elementary School.

Six students have tested positive this month at R.A. Riddell while three students have tested positive at Eastdale.

Both outbreaks were announced in letters to families on Sunday.

A letter from principal Doug Trimble at R.A. Riddell said the HWDSB is working with health officials to manage the outbreak and carry out contact tracing.

HWDSB follows a detailed cleaning and disinfecting protocol. Please know that we remain focused on the well-being of our school community and will update you throughout the outbreak designation," Trimble wrote.

Four other cases were recorded with the HWDSB on Sunday, involving a student at Westdale Secondary School and one at Bernie Custis Secondary School, which has had three cases this month.

A staff member has also tested positive at Norwood Park Elementary School, as well as one at Cathy Wever.

Cathy Wever reported two new student cases on Dec. 19, though they were not in the school and did not pose a risk to others, the school said.

The HWDSB has 53 active cases, according to the province's reporting.

The Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board has reported recent cases involving students at St. Marguerite d'Youville, St. Joseph and St. Thomas the Apostle.

The board had 17 active student cases and eight staff cases as of Friday.

McMaster reported one new case of COVID-19 on Sunday as well, involving a student who was last on campus on Dec. 16.

Since the end of August, the university has reported 15 cases of the virus.

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.