The Grey Bruce Health Unit is working collaboratively with schools and health care professionals to keep students and school staff safe.
In response to new COVID-19 Variants of Concern in Ontario, the Provincial Government has updated screening and exclusion criteria for workplaces, schools and childcare centres.
Based on the local context and risk assessment in Grey Bruce, The Grey Bruce Health Unit is adopting the provincial direction with the following two modifications for (24 hour monitoring period, and Isolation VS. Self Monitoring) as follows:
The Grey Bruce Health Unit continues to recommend utilizing a 24 hour monitoring period of a new symptom before determining the need for testing or isolation. Siblings or other household members can attend work, school or childcare settings and are not required to isolate while the 24 hour monitoring phase takes place.
If a symptom resolves within 24hrs: the child is free to return to school or childcare.
If the symptom persists beyond 24 hours, the Grey Bruce Health Unit is recommending testing the child. Parents should keep the child as well as any siblings up to Grade 4 at home while awaiting for the test result or receives an alternative diagnosis from a health care professional. Other household members may continue to go to work/school as long as they don’t have any of the covid-19 symptoms and are self-monitoring for them.
The following table provides a quick guidance based on test results.
Table 1: Guidance for Parents of Children Attending School and /or Childcare:*
If the parents refuse to test a child who has a known exposure to covid-19 and has one or more Covid-19 symptoms that are new or worsening or not related to an alternative diagnosis; all household members must self-isolate at home and recommended to be tested. Household members who are able to avoid close contact with the child who is sick can have their self-isolation period start from when they last had close contact with the child. Any household members who are in close contact with the child who is sick will have to self-isolate for 14 additional days from when their child’s isolation is over.
* These guidelines are developed in consideration with the Grey Bruce local context and risk assessment. Grey Bruce Public Health Unit may consider more stringent measures if the risk assessment changes at anytime.
In other words, the child will be permitted to return to school if:
1. The Child had only one symptom that has resolved within a 24 hour observation period AND he/she passed the COVID-19 Screening Tool for Children in School and Child Care
2. The child was tested for COVID-19:
The child had a negative COVID-19 test after starting to feel sick AND has been symptom-free or has improved over the past 24 hours AND has NOT identified by Public Health as a close contact to a known case.
3. The child was NOT tested for COVID-19:
The child did NOT have a COVID-19 test but completed 10 days of self-isolation from the date when the child started to feel sick AND he/she passed the COVID-19 Screening Tool for Children in School and Child Care
Public Health recommends testing ONLY for those with symptoms, or as directed by Public Health. For details about testing, please review the guidance infographic here:
Testing info-sheet (publichealthgreybruce.on.ca)
For more information on COVID-19 in general, please visit the Grey Bruce Health Unit website at Grey Bruce Public Health Homepage (publichealthgreybruce.on.ca).
source: media release, Grey Bruce Health Unit
