Etobicoke school closed to in-person learning due to COVID-19 outbreak

An Etobicoke high school could remained closed to in-person learning for 10 days due to an outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent investigation.

Toronto Public Health (TPH) says Silverthorn Collegiate Institute, located at 291 Mill Road, had to be shut down to protect students and staff.

“While we did have 11 cases yesterday, it’s now down to seven as four of them are now considered resolved,” said Ryan Bird, spokesperson for the TDSB. “As for timelines, the full school dismissal could last for 10 days although that could vary depending on the TPH investigation.”

The agency said the new cases were reported over the weekend and there may have been exposure at “multi-grade events.”

“COVID-19 activity in the school setting is not unexpected, given that the virus continues to circulate in Toronto and how transmissible Delta variant is,” TPH said in a news release Monday night. “This is why TPH continues to remind all residents to get vaccinated as soon as possible if they have not already done so.”

The Toronto District School Board said Monday night that all students will move to remote learning for now.

“We’re working closely with Toronto Public Health and helping in any way we can. While we hope students can return to in-person learning shortly, it’s not yet clear how long the dismissal will last as that will depend on the TPH investigation,” said Bird. “In the meantime, all students will be moving to remote learning.”

TPH said there are 21 active school outbreaks and 30 active investigations in 122 schools.

They added this is its first whole-school dismissal of the academic year.

 

Files from the Canadian Press were used in this report