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Here’s what happens when there are COVID-19 cases in Ontario schools

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With two million students, teachers and other education workers heading back to class this month, confirmed cases of COVID-19 will almost undoubtedly appear in the province’s school system.

The Ministry of Health has laid out detailed guidelines on what’s to happen when staff or students show symptoms of COVID-19, or test positive for the coronavirus. School administration, the school board and the local public health unit all play roles in a response that can — if there’s evidence that infections are spreading — include shutting down schools.

Here’s the plan in a nutshell.

When someone shows symptoms at school

Parents are being told not to send their kids to school if they are showing symptoms of COVID-19. If a student starts showing symptoms during the school day, the principal is to contact the parents immediately to arrange a pickup as soon as possible. In the meantime, the child is to isolate, and staff caring for the child are to wear full personal protective equipment.

The school principal must ensure the space and materials used by the ill student are cleaned, that staff are informed of the situation, and the rest of the school population is monitored for symptoms.

 

Students, teachers or education workers who test positive are to self-isolate for at least 14 days and are not to return to school until cleared by their local public health unit or health-care provider. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press)

 

The parents of the ill student will be encouraged to get their child tested for COVID-19. The student must not return to school while waiting for test results, but can attend virtually if they feel well enough. Even if the test result is negative, the child is still not to return to school until 24 hours after their symptoms have resolved.

While the province doesn’t want schools to bombard public health units with a report on every student with the sniffles, the system will be keeping a close eye on rates of absenteeism. School attendance is to be reported daily to the local public health unit and the Ministry of Education.

When someone tests positive

If a case of COVID-19 is confirmed among a student or a staff member, the provincial guidelines say the public health unit handling the case will notify the school. The guidelines also say the school is responsible for reporting any confirmed or probable case to the local public health unit and to the Ministry of Education.

Information is to be posted publicly on the school board’s and school’s website, but the individual is not to be named.

“Parents, students and staff have an understandable interest in knowing when a COVID-19 positive case has been identified in their school,” the provincial guidelines say.

Those who had close contact with the confirmed case while infectious — whether by being in the same class, on the same school bus or attending the same after-school care program — are to be informed directly.

 

If a case is confirmed, public health units are to contact the parents of students who were potentially exposed, whether on a bus or in the classroom. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press)

 

Contacts of a confirmed case

The public health unit determines the risk that various students and staff were exposed to the virus according to their level of contact with the person who tested positive. To allow for tracing, the school is required to provide public health with such information as class lists, attendance records and parental contact details.

Anyone in the same classroom cohort as the confirmed case will generally be considered to be at high risk of transmission. Parents of those children are to be notified immediately.

Everyone considered at high risk of exposure will be directed to self-isolate, and will be encouraged to get tested for COVID-19. However, even if they test negative, they are still to self-isolate for 14 days from the last contact with the confirmed case.

Those considered to be at low risk of exposure are to self-monitor for symptoms and can return to school.

If a student or staff member clearly contracted COVID-19 from someone outside the school and was not at the school while contagious, their cohort will not be required to self-isolate.

 

If there are two or more confirmed cases among students and/or staff in a school within a 14-day period, public health must declare an outbreak. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)

 

When multiple students or staff test positive

If there are two or more lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases among students and/or staff in a school within a 14-day period, public health must declare an outbreak, provided that the cases appear to have “an epidemiological link,” such as being in the same class, the same after-school care group, or the same school bus.

The public health unit decides which cohorts in the school should self-isolate by being most at risk from the outbreak.

“If public health advises that a class, cohort or a school should be closed for a period of time, parents, students and staff will be notified immediately,” say the provincial guidelines.

The outbreak can be declared over once 14 days have passed with no evidence of school-related transmission, so long as no one who was exposed to the initial outbreak is still awaiting test results.

 

Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 is to remain in isolation for at least 14 days. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press)

 

When will school closures happen?

As a result of an outbreak, a school may be closed, but not necessarily. There is no firm threshold for a number of cases to trigger a closure. It’s a judgment call, and public health officials make that judgment.

The provincial guidance says closing a school “should be considered if there is evidence of potential widespread transmission.” That could include any number of cases among students and staff “with no known source of acquisition outside of the school.”

If a school is closed, public health may recommend testing for everyone from the school.

The school may be reopened even if the outbreak is not fully over. “Cohorts without evidence of transmission can be gradually brought back to school as additional information and test results become available,” say the province’s guidelines.

When can you return to school after testing positive?

Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 is to remain in isolation for at least 14 days. A student or staff member should not return to school until they are cleared by their local public health unit or health-care provider, the province says.

What if a parent or sibling tests positive?

Parents who contract COVID-19 are encouraged to tell their children’s school, but it’s not a legal requirement. However, the province advises that everyone living in the household with a person who tests positive should self-isolate, and the children should not come to school, for 14 days.

Source: – CBC.ca

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RCMP end latest N.B. search regarding teenage girl who went missing in 2021

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BATHURST, N.B. – RCMP in New Brunswick say a weekend ground search for evidence related to the disappearance of a teenage girl in 2021 didn’t reveal any new information.

In an emailed statement, the RCMP said 20 people participated in the search for evidence in the case of Madison Roy-Boudreau of Bathurst.

The release said the search occurred in the Middle River area, just south of the girl’s hometown.

Police have said the 14-year-old’s disappearance is being treated as a homicide investigation.

The RCMP said the search “did not reveal any new information regarding the circumstances of her disappearance.”

There are no plans for another search until police receive a tip or a lead pointing to a new search area.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Man Tasered after trespassing in Victoria school, forcing lockdown

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VICTORIA – A middle school in Victoria was forced into a lockdown after a man entered the building without permission, and police say they had to use a stun gun to make an arrest.

Victoria police say officers received multiple calls around noon on Monday of an unknown male entering Central Middle School, leading staff to set off emergency procedures that put the building under lockdown.

Police say its emergency response team arrived within minutes and found the suspect, who “appeared to be in a drug-induced state,” in the school’s library.

A statement from police says the suspect resisted arrest, and officers had to use a Taser to subdue the man.

He’s being held by police and has been assessed by emergency medical staff.

Police say the man was not armed and there were no continuing safety concerns for students and staff following the arrest.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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B.C. Greens’ ex- leader Weaver thinks minority deal with NDP less likely than in 2017

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VANCOUVER – Former B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver knows what it’s like to form a minority government with the NDP, but says such a deal to create the province’s next administration is less likely this time than seven years ago.

Weaver struck a power-sharing agreement that resulted in John Horgan’s NDP minority government in 2017, but said in an interview Monday there is now more animosity between the two parties.

Neither the NDP nor the B.C. Conservatives secured a majority in Saturday’s election, raising the prospect of a minority NDP government if Leader David Eby can get the support of two Green legislators.

Manual recounts in two ridings could also play an important role in the outcome, which will not be known for about a week.

Weaver, who is no longer a member of the Greens, endorsed a Conservative candidate in his home riding.

He said Eby would be in a better position to negotiate if Furstenau, who lost her seat, stepped aside as party leader.

“I think Mr. Eby would be able to have fresh discussions with fresh new faces around the table, (after) four years of political sniping … between Sonia and the NDP in the B.C. legislature,” he said.

He said Furstenau’s loss put the two elected Greens in an awkward position because parties “need the leader in the legislature.”

Furstenau could resign as leader or one of the elected Greens could step down and let her run in a byelection in their riding, he said.

“They need to resolve that issue sooner rather than later,” he said.

The Green victories went to Rob Botterell in Saanich North and the Islands and Jeremy Valeriote in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky.

Neither Botterell nor Valeriote have held seats in the legislature before, Weaver noted.

“It’s not like in 2017 when, you know, I had been in the (legislature) for four years already,” Weaver said, adding that “the learning curve is steep.”

Sanjay Jeram, chair of undergraduate studies in political science at Simon Fraser University, said he doesn’t think it’ll be an “easygoing relationship between (the NDP and Greens) this time around.”

“I don’t know if Eby and Furstenau have the same relationship — or the potential to have the same relationship — as Horgan and Weaver did,” he said. “I think their demands will be a little more strict and it’ll be a little more of a cold alliance than it was in 2017 if they do form an alliance.”

Horgan and Weaver shook hands on a confidence-and-supply agreement before attending a rugby match, where they were spotted sitting together before the deal became public knowledge.

Eby said in his election-night speech that he had already reached out to Furstenau and suggested common “progressive values” between their parties.

Furstenau said in her concession speech that her party was poised to play a “pivotal role” in the legislature.

Botterell said in an election-night interview that he was “totally supportive of Sonia” and he would “do everything I can to support her and the path forward that she chooses to take because that’s her decision.”

The Green Party of Canada issued a news release Monday, congratulating the candidates on their victories, noting Valeriote’s win is the first time that a Green MLA has been elected outside of Vancouver Island.

“Now, like all British Columbians we await the final seat count to know which party will have the best chance to form government. Let’s hope that the Green caucus has a pivotal role,” the release said, echoing Furstenau’s turn of phrase.

The final results of the election won’t be known until at least next week.

Elections BC says manual recounts will be held on Oct. 26 to 28 in two ridings where NDP candidates led B.C. Conservatives by fewer than 100 votes after the initial count ended on Sunday.

The outcomes in Surrey City Centre and Juan de Fuca-Malahat could determine who forms government.

The election’s initial results have the NDP elected or leading in 46 ridings, and the B.C. Conservatives in 45, both short of the 47 majority mark in B.C.’s 93-seat legislature.

If the Conservatives win both of the recount ridings and win all other ridings where they lead, Rustad will win with a one-seat majority.

If the NDP holds onto at least one of the ridings where there are recounts, wins the other races it leads, and strikes a deal with the Greens, they would have enough numbers to form a minority government.

But another election could also be on the cards, since the winner will have to nominate a Speaker, reducing the government’s numbers in the legislature by one vote.

Elections BC says it will also be counting about 49,000 absentee and mail-in ballots from Oct. 26 to 28.

The NDP went into the election with 55 ridings, representing a comfortable majority in what was then an 87-seat legislature.

Jeram, with Simon Fraser University, said though the counts aren’t finalized, the Conservatives were the big winners in the election.

“They weren’t really a not much of a formal party until not that long ago, and to go from two per cent of the vote to winning 45 or more seats in the B.C. provincial election is just incredible,” he said in an interview Monday.

Jeram said people had expected Eby to call an election after he took over from John Horgan in 2022, and if he had, he doesn’t think there would have been the same result.

He said the B.C. Conservative’s popularity grew as a result of the decision of the BC Liberals to rebrand as BC United and later drop out.

“Had Eby called an election before that really shook out, and maybe especially before (Pierre) Poilievre, kind of really had the wind in his sails and started to grow, I think he could have won the majority for sure.”

He said he wasn’t surprised by the results of the election, saying polls were fairly accurate.

“Ultimately, it really was a result that we saw coming for a while, since the moment that BC United withdrew and put their support behind the conservatives, I think this was the outcome that was expected.”

— With files from Darryl Greer

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

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