Skip to content

Ontario Releases COVID-19 Management Plan for Schools

Book stack | Miberly Farmer on Unsplash
Book stack | Miberly Farmer on Unsplash

With Ontario students only days away from returning to the classroom, the provincial government has released a guide to help school boards manage possible COVID-19 outbreaks.

The Operational Guidance: COVID-19 Management in Schools document, developed in consultation with public health experts, will help schools identify and isolate COVID-19 cases, reduce the spread of the virus in schools, and prevent and minimize outbreaks. 

"Just as many schools have fire safety and emergency response plans, we have been working hand in hand with the medical experts to develop a plan that will allow schools to quickly and effectively find, isolate and contain a COVID-19 case or outbreak," said Premier Doug Ford, on release of the document.

"With medical experts helping to develop and support our plan, parents, teachers and educators can be confident every measure has been taken to put the health and safety of students and staff first."

The guide will help schools implement prevention measures, maintain accurate records of staff, students and visitors, work with their local public health units, and take appropriate action when anyone becomes ill during the school day. It provides detailed instructions for a variety of different scenarios. It also outlines recommendations for what parents should do to support their children.

The document outlines:

  • The role of school boards and schools to keep communities informed through website communication
  • The role of local public health units to lead case and contact tracing activities, declare outbreaks and direct closure of classrooms or schools when necessary
  • The critical role of parents in screening children daily before they go to school and keeping them home if they are ill
  • Appropriate steps to take when a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, including notifying the school community while respecting individual privacy
  • Protocols to trigger various levels of public health responses or infection control measures. One case will trigger a public health response, two or more linked cases will trigger the declaration of an outbreak

Dr. Dirk Huyer, the province’s chief coroner, will serve as a provincial outbreak response coordinator, leading efforts to prevent and minimize outbreaks in sectors including education, child care, agriculture and health care.

"The Government of Ontario needs to be prepared to identify and mitigate outbreaks, especially in settings such as schools and child care centres," said Dr. Dirk Huyer. "Through enhanced planning across government, we will be positioned to intervene quickly to prevent outbreaks and the spread of COVID-19."

The Chief Medical Officer of Health is also issuing an additional public health guidance, COVID-19 Guidance: School Outbreak Management, for medical officers of health and public health units to support their efforts in investigating cases, outbreaks, and suspected outbreaks in school settings.

The new guidance includes:

  • A protocol for dealing with students who become ill at school, including isolation and personal protective equipment
  • A communications process to keep parents informed if a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19
  • Led by Ontario Public Health, the government intends to surveillance test asymptomatic secondary students in schools

As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve, the guidance document will help support parents and schools work together The Minister of Education has issued a letter to parents to outline the shared responsibility to keep students safe, and the key elements of the outbreak management protocol. 

QUICK FACTS

  • Additional information is available on the provincial COVID-19 website, including resources to help stop the spread, sector specific resources including helpful posters, mental health resources, and other information.
  • On July 30, 2020, the government released the Guide to Reopening Ontario’s Schools, which was developed in consultation with leading medical experts and approved by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health. This plan committed over $300 million in funding to support a safe reopening of Ontario’s schools. The provincial guidelines provide a baseline and school boards are encouraged to adapt them to meet local needs and support students and families.
  • Dr. Huyer was appointed Chief Coroner for Ontario in March 2014. He received his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1986. He has served as a coroner in Ontario since 1992 and as Regional Supervising Coroner for five years. He is also an Assistant Professor with the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. During the pandemic, Dr. Huyer has been instrumental in implementing expedited response plans for the hospital and long-term care sectors and provided strong leadership in developing Ontario’s testing strategy.

What's next?


Reader Feedback