Catholic elementary schools in King City and Woodbridge are the first schools with COVID-19 outbreaks in York Region to temporarily close to halt the spread of the virus.
Both Holy Name on Spring Hill Drive in King City and Our Lady of Fatima on Crofters Road in Woodbridge will be closed for in-person learning until Oct. 26, according to the York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB).
While the schools have been under surveillance by York Region Public Health, outbreaks have now been declared because new confirmed cases were acquired as a result of exposure at the school, YCDSB said in a statement.
"As of Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, there have been multiple confirmed cases associated with each school, across several classes and grades," the board stated. "Based on the epidemiological linkages between these cases, the situation meets the definition of a confirmed outbreak in a school."
All students will transition to online learning until the schools reopen.
The 15-day surveillance at Holy Name by York Region Public Health began Sept. 28 with the first case reported in a student, and with an additional two staff cases currently confirmed.
According to YCDSB, there are now five confirmed cases at Holy Name, despite the earlier closure of one classroom.
Our Lady of Fatima, which was among the first schools in York Region to report COVID cases, has been under surveillance by the public health unit for 31 days since one staff member was confirmed with a case on Sept. 12.
Public health is now confirming five students and two staff with COVID at Our Lady of Fatima as Oct. 14, while YCDSB is reporting a total of eight cases today, with eight classrooms closed previously.
Under Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education guidance, a COVID-19 outbreak in a school setting is confirmed when two or more individuals have tested positive with an epidemiological link between them.
Until yesterday, only one school outbreak had been declared by York Region Public Health, at Blue Willow Public School in Woodbridge, which remained open until the outbreak due to three cases was closed after eight days on Sept. 30.
As of Oct. 13, 53 schools in York Region have been under surveillance due to student and staff cases not acquired at their schools. Terry Fox Public School and Sir William Mulock Secondary School in Newmarket are among the 28 schools currently under active surveillance.
To date, York Region is reporting 60 school-related cases in total.
YCDSB said both schools were following "strict public health measures," including physical distancing, increased hand hygiene, cohorting of classroom, enhanced cleaning and the wearing of face coverings.
"The decision for the school to close and move to online learning for this period of time was not made lightly, and was done out of an abundance of caution to prevent further spread of COVID-19 within the school(s)," YCDSB said.
"Please be assured York Catholic District School Board will continue to partner with York Region Public Health to monitor the situation closely in order to safely resume school operations."
