2 Kitchener high schools closed Friday after measles cases

Two Kitchener high schools are closed on Friday due to measles cases.

Eastwood Collegiate Institute in Kitchener will remain closed on Friday after a positive measles case at the high school and St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School is also closed on Friday.

The Waterloo Catholic District School Board said the positive case at St. Mary's means exposure to measles by staff and students on May 8.

"Out of an abundance of caution and to allow time for public health to complete necessary vaccination verification and help prevent further spread of the virus, St. Mary's will be closed on Friday," the board said on its website.

The Waterloo Region District School Board says the confirmed case at Eastwood means there was exposure to measles by staff and students on May 7 and 8.

"Due to the time necessary for Region of Waterloo Public Health to complete the required steps in vaccination verification, the school will remain closed on Friday," the school board said in a notice on its website.

The school was also closed on Thursday.

Both boards say students will learn asynchronously and "may also work on previously-assigned work or spend time reviewing material previously covered," the school board said.

There are now 59 measles cases in Waterloo region and 53 in the area covered by Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.

The new numbers were released by Public Health Ontario on Thursday and reflect 11 new cases in Waterloo region and seven in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph between May 6 to May 13.

In all of Ontario, there were 182 new cases in the same time period, bringing the total to 1,622.