Dr. Ian Arra, Medical Officer of Health, Grey Bruce Health Unit

The Grey Bruce Health Unit is working with Bluewater District School Board to address a case of COVID-19 associated with Bruce Peninsula District School in the Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula.

While there is a case associated with a school, our assessment, to date, indicates the transmission did not take place within the school environment. Currently there are no outbreaks; that is, evidence of transmission from person to person, in any schools or childcare centres, in Grey Bruce. No bus routes of any schools are involved with this case.

Public Health is the lead in all outbreaks and case management and will let you know if you are a close contact with someone who has COVID-19, based on a thorough risk assessment completed only by Public Health.

Determining who is a close contact is a decision that can only be made by Public Health. Anyone identified as a contact to the confirmed case, both in and outside the school environment, will be contacted by a Public Health case manager directly. Those at risk of infection will be contacted within 24 hours of the investigation.

Anyone NOT contacted by Public Health is not considered at risk and need not take any additional steps including asymptomatic testing.

The Grey Bruce Health Unit will direct those considered at risk and requiring testing, to their local assessment centre, on the appropriate and recommended date(s). There is no value in anyone being tested ahead of being notified and instructed to do so by Public Health as results would be unreliable and would put individuals at risk of more testing than is required.

The family of the case who tested positive has been contacted directly by our COVID-19 Case and Contact Management Team. We are working with the family and Bluewater District School Board to identify others, both in and out of the school environment, who may have been exposed and to determine their risk level.

All contact tracing and determination of individual and community risk is made by Public Health. This is true of all cases, whether in schools, workplaces or the community. A health care provider or school official cannot make this decision.