COVID-19: Huron-Perth reports outbreak at Listowel District secondary school
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Public health officials in Huron-Perth are reporting the region’s first school-related COVID-19 outbreak since students returned to classes this month.
An outbreak at Listowel District secondary school began Sept. 21, Huron Perth public health’s most recent COVID-19 data shows.
According to a spokesperson for the Avon Maitland District school board, the outbreak includes four cases impacting six classes.
“Anyone determined to be a close contact would be given instructions,” the health unit said via email. “Isolation requirements will depend on the individual’s vaccination status and whether they are asymptomatic or symptomatic.”
Huron Perth public health declares school outbreaks when two or more COVID-19 cases are reported in students, staff or visitors within a two-week period and at least one affected person could have contracted the virus at the school.
The cases linked to the outbreak in Listowel are considered “probable” and aren’t reflected in the region’s official COVID-19 statistics, the health unit said. Huron Perth public health only reports lab-confirmed cases on its COVID-19 dashboard.
There was one other outbreak in Huron-Perth on Monday at Bluewater Rest Home. That outbreak has affected two staff members and one resident at the long-term care home.
There were 37 active COVID-19 cases in Huron and Perth counties on Monday, the health unit’s numbers show – 14 in Huron County, 13 in Perth East, five in North Perth, three in West Perth, one in St. Marys, and one in Stratford. The health unit added 17 new confirmed cases over the weekend, bringing the region’s total to 2,159 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Four people from Huron-Perth were in hospital Monday due to COVID-19.
Given the impact of the pandemic on, Ontario is considering adding the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of vaccines children must have to attend school, Health Minister Christine Elliott said Monday.
When asked about the issue during a media conference on another matter, Elliott made no promises but said the government is studying the idea of adding the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of nine immunizations under the province’s Immunization of School Pupils Act.
“We want to have as many people vaccinated as is safe and possible, so we are continuing to look at ways that we can continue with that, and that is one of the ways that we are looking at,” she said.
Toronto’s medical officer of health, Eileen de Villar, recently joined those who have been calling for the government to make vaccines mandatory for all eligible students.
The idea of mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for school children is also supported by associations representing Ontario’s English public school boards, unions representing education workers and nurses, and the Ontario Medical Association, among others.
Elementary and secondary students must now be immunized against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), poliomyelitis, measles, mumps, rubella, meningococcal disease and varicella (chickenpox, for those born the year of/after 2010). Vaccine exemptions are allowed for both medical and personal reasons under the Ontario legislation.
Elliott said the take-up of COVID-19 vaccines among the province’s 12- to 17-year-olds has been good, and the government is now waiting for the authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for younger children. Officials at Pfizer said last week that they expected to make an application for the approval of a vaccine for children from age four to 11 in the next few days.
Ontario reported no new deaths and 613 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, most of them in people who are not vaccinated.
Across the province, 186 people are in hospital with the illness, with 184 patients in ICU, although some hospitals did not report data on the weekend. Among the people in ICU, seven are fully vaccinated, 11 are partially vaccinated, 102 are unvaccinated, and the vaccination status of 64 people isn’t known.
-With files from Postmedia News and the Canadian Press
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