Lakehead Public Schools has confirmed a student at Ecole Gron Morgan in Thunder Bay has tested positive for COVID-19.

The board said there is no evidence of the spread of COVID-19 to anyone else within the school, and the board will work with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit to manage the situation going forward.

"We were given some direction, immediately, from the health unit in terms of isolating the class that the student was from, and having those students picked up by their parents and brought home," said AJ Keene, a superintendent of education with Lakehead Public Schools.

All students in the class — Keene said there are less than 20 — will be quarantined for 14 days.

Keene said public health nurses are now investigating the case, and any possible transmission, although the affected student hasn't been in school for some time because they were showing symptoms.

Keene said, however, the student had been at school within the last 14 days.

"Because it was a primary classroom, the students were not necessarily masked or distanced at all times," he said. "Whereas the staff members did have proper PPE, so it's my understanding the investigation will determine whether a staff member was a ... high-risk contact, or a low-risk contact."

High-risk contacts would require isolation, while low-risk would be required to self-monitor for symptoms.

Anyone in the school who is not directly contacted by public health is considered low-risk, and doesn't require a test, the board said.

"The public health nurses have gathered all sorts of information," Keene said. "It really has put our preparation to the test, in that they were looking for being able to track and trace where the student was during the possible days when the child was here, and possibly had the virus."

"We had to provide them with a list of all of our sign-in sheets, when the child went to the bathroom, who had close contact," he said. "They contact the families, and they will direct the families what to do in terms of their next steps, whether they need to be assessed or not, and they will also contact our staff."

Other classes are not affected, and are running as normal, Keene said.

No further information about the student was provided by the board, and the health unit said it will no longer be providing any information that may identify an individual, unless the release of that information is required to protect others from a communicable disease.

There are currently two confirmed active COVID-19 cases in the Thunder Bay area, the health unit said.