Ontario schools are safe — but prepare for outbreaks, chief medical officer of health says

Ontario schools are safe - but parents should be prepared for COVID-19 outbreaks and the possibility of curbing kids' after-school activities if cases jump, says Ontario's chief medical officer of health.

On Tuesday - as many students around the province began returning to in-person learning - Dr. Kieran Moore said he is confident that the school setting itself is safe. We put in many precautions. We will see outbreaks, we will see activity in the schools, but they basically reflect what's going on in the community."

The caution came as several Ontario school boards reported their first cases of COVID-19 among staff and students.

The Toronto District School Board recorded one of its first confirmed cases of COVID-19 connected to a welcome event last week. The infected student came in contact with around 27 other people at an orientation event for incoming Grade 9 students at Riverdale Collegiate Institute on Aug. 30, according to a TDSB teacher who spoke to the Star on condition of anonymity so they could speak freely without fear of retribution.

I think it strongly suggests that there will be cases and disruption to learning," said the teacher, who was unsettled by the early case ahead of hundreds of students returning to school.

At the event, several cohorts of about 24 incoming Grade 9 students were toured around the school and attended talks, according to the teacher. The vaccination status of the infected student is unknown, the teacher added.

The institute's principal Kenneth Harvey circulated an email to staff and the school community on Friday afternoon, four days after the event took place, stating Toronto public health had dismissed one cohort, one staff member and three student volunteers who were potentially exposed to the student in an abundance of caution."

In the email, Harvey writes staff and students are required to wear masks while at school and to practice physical distancing, as well as proper hand hygiene. While enhanced cleaning is conducted every day, the school has made sure to conduct an enhanced cleaning in all affected areas of our school," he said.

TDSB spokeperson Ryan Bird confirmed the case at Riverdale and said the board would be providing further COVID updates throughout the week.

The York Region District School Board has recorded five cases at Ellen Fairclough Public School. According to York Region Public Health, 10 other schools are under surveillance following one confirmed case. Bill Crothers Secondary School is also under surveillance following two confirmed cases.

The Kenora Catholic District School Board is reporting one confirmed case and one closed classroom at Pope John Paul II School.

COVID infections discovered at schools don't necessarily indicate transmission occurred at the educational institution; exposure could have happened within the community.

Dr. Anna Banerji, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and faculty lead of Indigenous and refugee health at the University of Toronto, said the early cases are a signal of what's to come and questions whether schools have done enough to protect families. She said having secondary school class sizes consisting of 30-plus kids is not safe."

I expect there's going to be more outbreaks in schools...I think it's going to be a very difficult year," Banerji said. School boards or the government aren't understanding the importance of physical distancing and making sure there's adequate ventilation."

She added it'll be much more complicated" to keep COVID transmission in check at schools, as more children begin showing symptoms of common viruses like influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).

The main thing is keeping sick kids at home...if someone has a new onset of symptoms, they should be out of the pool," Banerji said. Ontario's new school screening guidelines for COVID exclude runny noses and headaches. Taking away all these symptoms, you're going to miss a lot of COVID."

Moore defended the decision, saying that a runny nose was removed from the list of COVID-19 symptoms because data on a look at 100 kids found that just one tested positive.

We thought that was an undue burden for parents to try to find one child to test 99," Moore said. The vast majority of them would have had an allergy or rhinovirus, which is very typical this time of year, and it would have been an undue burden on parents and schools and the testing capacity of the province. So given that low positivity of just the one symptom of runny nose, we've excluded it."

Education Minister Stephen Lecce told that Star the province's commitment is to minimize disruption and maximize safety to keep children in schools so they can learn," which includes mandatory masking and improved ventilation.

Ontario students have missed out on in-person learning for 26 weeks since the pandemic began a year and a half ago - more than any others in the country.

While teachers and school staff are being urged to get their COVID vaccine, those who opt not to will have to undergo twice-weekly rapid tests. The Toronto District School Board and advocacy group People for Education have also been urging the province to add the vaccine to the list of mandatory shots for eligible Ontario students.