Sixteen elementary school in Ottawa have an COVID -19 outbreak

By Clélia Diamani

The COVID-19 vaccine for children couldn’t come at a better time, especially as the COVID-19 cases in elementary schools in Ottawa are rising.

Ottawa medical officer of health Dr.Vera Etches told reporters “We need to limit community transmission of COVID-19 from entering our schools, so parents and caregivers please continue daily screening of children using the Ottawa Public Health online screening tool.”

As the month of November is coming to a close, Ottawa Public Health has reported 140 cases of COVID-19 in children under 10 years old, which is more than any other age category.

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The 16 school outbreaks are linked to the 96 of COVID-19 among students in the Ottawa area. There are also six reported cases among school staff. No one linked to an outbreak of COVID-19 in a school has died or been hospitalized.

Elementary schools in Ottawa with covid 19 outbreaks (OPH data):

•  École élémentaire publique Marie-Curie (Started Nov. 5; 7 student cases, 1 staff case)

•  Holy Family Elementary School (Started Nov. 7; 12 student cases, 0 staff cases)

•  Assumption Catholic Elementary School (Started Nov. 8; 4 student cases, 0 staff cases)

•  Our Lady of Fatima Elementary School (Started Nov. 9; 6 student cases, 1 staff case)

•  Ecole élémentaire catholique La Vérendrye (Started Nov. 10; 2 student cases, 0 staff cases)

•  Ecole élémentaire catholique Sainte-Bernadette (Started Nov. 11; 3 student cases, 0 staff cases)

•  Sir Winston Churchill Public School (Started Nov. 13; 8 student cases, 1 staff case)

•  Stittsville Public School (Started Nov. 13; 7 student cases, 1 staff case)

•  Westwind Public School (Started Nov. 15; 2 student cases, 0 staff cases)

•  Académie Providence Soeurs Antonines (Started Nov. 16; 3 student cases, 0 staff cases)

•  Hilson Avenue Public School (Started Nov. 16; 2 student cases, 0 staff cases)

•  Holy Spirit Elementary School (Started Nov. 16; 1 student case, 2 staff cases)

•  École élémentaire publique Francojeunesse (Started Nov. 17; 2 student cases, 0 staff cases)

•  Lorne Cassidy Elementary School (Started Nov. 18; 2 student cases, 0 staff cases)

•  Fern Hill School (Started Nov. 19; 5 student cases, 0 staff cases)

•  St. Rita Elementary School (Started Nov. 20; 3 student cases, 0 staff cases

The six staff that tested positive for COVID-19 took measures to communicate with the school and remain at home until they could safely return to work.

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Last Friday, Ottawa Public Health was at Holly Family Elementary School offering COVID-19 testing, as the school had 12 cases linked to its outbreak. The school was closed for two days last week and remained closed on Monday.

Over the period of four weeks, Ottawa Public Health will have 73 after-hours school pop-up vaccination clinics. In addition, Ottawa Public Health will make the vaccine available at seven community clinics and 10 community hubs. The vaccine for children will be available at some Ottawa pharmacies and family physicians.

Ottawa Public Health aims to provide vaccines for all 77,000 children between the ages of 5 and 11 in Ottawa over the next four weeks.