COVID-19 cases in schools and child care centres

Summary of cases in schools

This report provides a summary of COVID‑19 activity in publicly-funded Ontario schools. Cumulative totals represent all total cases reported to the Ministry of Education as of September 5, 2020, including resolved cases.

Cases reported on this page on Tuesdays include the total number of cases reported from Friday afternoon to Monday afternoon. School boards report to us every weekday from Monday to Friday.

Last updated: July 5 at 10:30 a.m.

Report	Number of new cases reported today	Number of cases reported in the last 14 days	Number of cases reported more than 14 days ago	Cumulative total (total number of cases reported)
School-related cases (total)	0	0	15,292	15,292
School-related student cases	0	0	11,462	11,462
School-related staff cases	0	0	2,661	2,661
Individual(s) not identified	0	0	1,169	1,169

Note:

• In some instances, the type of case has not been identified as either student/child or staff/provider/partner due to privacy considerations. These "individuals" only include unidentified students/children or staff/providers/partners and not visitors or parents. These cases will be tracked as "individuals" but not included in the "student/child" or "staff/provider" columns.
• Recommended isolation period for COVID‑19 cases is 14 days.
• This report includes individual school closures that are due to outbreaks or operational considerations. It does not include regional closures in a local public health unit area.

Data updates as of July 5:

• From April 19 to June 30 while schools were operating on remote learning, there were 260 COVID‑19 cases reported. These cases may include some student and staff cases reported prior to the April break (April 12-16), as well as students with special education needs who were attending in-person learning and staff who were working from physical school or board locations during this time. These cases are now included in the “cumulative total” and “number of cases reported more than 14 days ago” columns. A breakdown of these cases is as follows:
  • 120 student cases
  • 140 staff cases
  • 0 individuals not identified

Find data about:

• COVID‑19 asymptomatic targeted testing in schools

Schools with recent COVID-19 cases

This report lists schools and school boards that have reported recent cases of COVID‑19 in the past 14 days.

Last updated: July 5 at 10:30 a.m.

Note: In some instances, the type of case has not been identified as either student/child or staff/provider/partner due to privacy considerations. These "individuals" only include unidentified students/children or staff/providers/partners and not visitors or parents. These cases will be tracked as "individuals" but not included in the "student/child" or "staff/provider" columns.

Note: Cases listed at board office sites include occasional school staff (for example, occasional teachers, occasional early childhood educators and occasional educational assistants), board staff who visit schools (for example, social workers, psychologists and resource teachers or staff) and centrally or regionally assigned school board staff.

Cases in school board partners

This report lists confirmed recent COVID‑19 cases in school board partners (for example: school bus drivers, health professionals). If cases overlap across various school boards, school boards will be listed together so cases are not counted more than once.

Last updated: July 5 at 10:30 a.m.

Where the numbers come from

Case data

Every day, schools, child care centres and licensed home child care agencies report to the Ministry of Education on children, students and staff that have positive cases of COVID‑19.

If there is a discrepancy between numbers reported here and those reported publicly by a Public Health Unit, please consider the number reported by the Public Health Unit to be the most up-to-date.

Schools

Schools and school boards report when a school is closed to the Ministry of Education. Data is current as of 2:00 pm the previous day.

If a COVID-19 case is confirmed at your school

The local public health unit will determine what happens if a COVID‑19 case is confirmed at your school.

Check for notices on the school or board website

School boards and schools will post a notice on their website if a student or staff member tests positive for COVID‑19. Search for a COVID‑19 advisory section on their website.

No personal information will be posted.

Working with public health

Schools will work with public health units to help them identify who has been in close contact with a person who tested positive for COVID‑19.

This means that a school may provide the public health unit with your child’s name and information about their:

• class cohort
• school bus cohort
• child care cohort

Schools will provide information in accordance with all applicable legislation, including the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

If there is risk of exposure

The public health unit will assess risk of exposure. Those at high risk will need to isolate for 14 days.

If your child was in close contact with a person who tested positive, the public health unit will tell you that your child must isolate for 14 days. They’ll also tell you if your child or family need to get tested for COVID‑19.

If your child is feeling well enough, the school will give your child remote learning activities they can do at home during their 14-day isolation period.

Not everyone may have been exposed

Since students will be grouped in class cohorts, the public health unit may determine that your child has not been in close contact with a person who tested positive for COVID‑19 from another class or part of the school.

The public health unit will advise you to monitor your child for symptoms, but your child will be able to keep going to school as long as they are not ill and the school is open.

Closing classes or schools

If the local public health unit declares an outbreak, they will determine what happens next. This could include closing classrooms, cohorts or an entire school.

If an outbreak is declared in a school, the public health unit will help determine which groups of students need to be sent home or if a partial or full school closure is required.

Declaring an outbreak

An outbreak may be declared by the local public health unit when:

• within a 14-day period, there are two or more laboratory-confirmed COVID‑19 cases in students, staff or other visitors with an epidemiological link (for example, if cases are in the same class or cohort)
• at least one case could have been infected in the school (including on a school bus or in before or after school care)

What your local public health unit will do

If an outbreak exists, the local public health unit is responsible for:

• declaring an outbreak
• providing direction on how to control the outbreak
• declaring when an outbreak is over

The local public health unit is responsible for determining:

• if an outbreak exists
• how to manage the outbreak in collaboration with the school and other relevant partners, such as before and after school programs
• who to test, in alignment with the province’s broader testing strategy
• who is at high-risk of infection and needs to self-isolate
• if a partial or full school closure is required

Related

COVID‑19: reopening schools

COVID‑19 asymptomatic targeted testing in schools