The province is changing the way that parents are notified of a potential COVID-19 outbreak.
Ahead of the return of in-class learning on Monday, January 17th, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said Wednesday that any notification will go out when approximately 30 per cent of students in the school are absent.
It will come in the form of a joint letter from the local medical officer of health and the principal.
Moore stressed that the threshold will not automatically trigger a school closure, but a pivot to remote learning could be considered.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce unveiled two COVID-19 rapid tests will be provided to each student and staff member, which equals 3.9 million rapid tests to school boards across Ontario.
An additional 1.2 million rapid tests are expected to be distributed during the week of January 24.
On Tuesday Ontario unveiled the elimination of reporting cases and only utilizing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) COVID-19 tests for students and staff who become symptomatic at school.
