31 students dismissed from Windsor Catholic school due to possible COVID-19 exposure

Thirty-one students have been sent home and a classroom has been closed in a French immersion Catholic school in Windsor due to a "high risk exposure to COVID-19," according to a news release from the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board.

The students go to St. Anne French Immersion Catholic Elementary School in Walkerville.

"Twenty-four of the students were from one class/cohort; an additional seven students from a busing cohort were also dismissed," writes Stephen Fields, the board's communications co-ordinator.

Fields writes that the school board acted on the direction of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit. The news release states that "nurses from the health unit were on site at the school this afternoon to provide information and support to parents as they were picking up children from the dismissed cohort."  

"We have been working with the health unit by providing lists of students and staff who may have been directly affected. The health unit is contacting any individuals, both students and staff, who may have been affected, and will give directions for them to follow," writes Fields.

All directly affected families will be contacted: board

The school board said it has sent a voice message and letters to the entire school community to reassure parents that if they have not been contacted by the health unit, they have not been identified as close contacts and their children may continue attending school as usual.

Parents are advised to monitor their children for symptoms of COVID-19 each morning and to keep them at home and call a healthcare provider for further direction if their child is ill. 

The school board also advised parents can find more information on its COVID-19 outbreak information page.

As of Thursday afternoon, the page stated there is one active confirmed case of COVID-19 at the school and one active confirmed case in a student.