Positive COVID-19 case at William Hamilton Merritt Public School in St. Catharines
Bobby Hristova | CBC News | Posted: September 24, 2020 1:44 PM | Last Updated: September 24, 2020
This is the 2nd case of COVID-19 in the District School Board of Niagara
Someone at William Hamilton Merritt Public School in St. Catharines has tested positive for COVID-19.
The District School Board of Niagara (DSBN) posted on social media Wednesday evening.
"Students and staff who were in close proximity to the individual are being contacted and told by Niagara Region Public Health to stay home and self-isolate for 14 days," read the tweet.
"Following protocol, custodians have completed a thorough cleaning of the school, and a Public Health Inspector and Public Health Nurse will visit the school [Thursday] morning to do a comprehensive assessment."
Here's more back-to-school coverage:
- Help CBC Hamilton's back-to-school coverage
- Find out if your local school has a COVID-19 case
- Hamilton schools to start rotating bus cancellations amid driver shortage and lengthy delays
- 3 new school COVID-19 cases in Brantford and Waterdown
- No public board virtual high school is a problem for some students and teachers says union
- Roughly 1 in 10 public school students in Hamilton aren't wearing masks in class
It's unclear if the infected person is a staff member or student, what kind of symptoms they have or had, where and/or how they got the virus, for how long they may have exposed others and how many people have to isolate.
CBC has reached out to the board for comment.
INTERACTIVE | Use this map to find COVID-19 cases in local schools
Eastdale Secondary School in Welland, also part of DSBN, has an outbreak after two people tested positive, forcing five classrooms to close.
Mustafa Hirji, Niagara's chief medical officer of health, previously said 15 per cent of Niagara's population is either a student or school staff member.
That means roughly one in every seven cases will be linked to a school.
Two schools in Brantford and one in Waterdown are the most recent school-related COVID-19 cases.
Attention parents, students and teachers: We want to hear from you!
We hope you'll use this form to tell us about school conditions, how classes are going or whatever other pressing issues are on your mind this September in Hamilton, Niagara, St. Catharines and Burlington.