11 Toronto schools linked to COVID-19 variant cases
Posted February 25, 2021 6:05 am.
Last Updated February 25, 2021 5:14 pm.
The Toronto District School Board has identified three additional schools that have reported cases of a COVID-19 variant of concern.
It comes after Toronto Public Health (TPH) confirmed eight Toronto schools had been linked to at least one person that has screened positive for a variant early Thursday morning.
The impacted schools:
- Earl Grey SPS
- Edgewood Public School
- Pleasant View Middle School
- Beverley School
- Danforth Collegiate and Technical Institute
- Dante Alighieri Academy
- Gulfstream Public School
- Helen Catholic School
- Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School
- The Toronto Cheder
- Yeshiva Yesodei Hatorah
TPH says all affected individuals have been sent home and they have followed up with any close contact to recommend testing.
TPH says schools are following a set of protocols aimed at keeping them as safe as possible and reduce the spread of the virus. The protocols include coordinated COVID-19 testing, daily screening, physical distancing, masks and recommended targeted testing.
The Toronto District School Board recently released the results of a survey about the safety of schools during the pandemic.
The survey found that 89 per cent of parents and 81 per cent of students felt protected from the virus because of the precautions in place at schools
Health officials believe the variants are more infectious and make faster and wider spread of COVID-19 more likely.
On Wednesday, Toronto’s top doctor Eileen de Villa and TPH reported 710 cases in the city are now being screened for VOC; over 200 more than earlier in the week.
TPH calculated the reproductive number in Toronto to be 1.1. This means that each new case of COVID-19 is giving rise to more than one new case of the virus.
“Our epidemic is in a position where it is, once again, growing,” de Villa said. “This is not where we want to be.”
The latest provincial numbers, released on Wednesday, confirm 395 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the UK and nine cases of the B 1.351 variant first detected in South Africa.
TPH confirmed Tuesday that another 13 COVID-19 variant cases have been identified in the city’s shelter systems and encampments.
