The Kenora Catholic District School Board has received notification of a second positive COVID-19 case at St. Thomas Aquinas High School and is working closely with the Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) to reduce the spread of the virus. The positive case is being followed up by the Northwestern Health Unit, and all close contacts of the case will be called and given instructions by public health.
Out of an abundance of caution and through the contact tracing process, the Northwestern Health Unit has decided to close all the Grade 8 classes at St. Thomas Aquinas High School effective Saturday, November 28.
The NWHU has advised that they are classifying the two confirmed cases of COVID-19 at St. Thomas Aquinas High School as an outbreak. The outbreak is confined to the Grade 8 cohort.
The situation is being classified as an outbreak because it meets the Ministry’s definition, which defines an outbreak in a school as two or more lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in students and/or staff in a school within a 14-day period, where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the school setting.
St. Thomas Aquinas High School remains open to all other students who have NOT been identified as a close contact by public health and told to self-isolate.
St. Thomas Aquinas High School are working with the NWHU to make sure all potential risks are minimized. Due to their COVID-19 prevention strategies in place, those staff and students not contacted by the school can continue to attend school as usual.
All students and staff should use the Government of Ontario’s school screening tool daily before attending school. https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/. Visit the KCDSB website for COVID-19 Advisories for more information. As per Ministry requirements, all cases in schools will be uploaded to this website.