26 Hamilton students test positive for COVID-19 since Friday, plus more school staff cases

There have been 19 studentsand two staff who have tested positive for COVID-19 in public schools since Friday, with three other students being reported as probable cases. Seven students have also tested positive across the Catholic board.

A newoutbreak has been declared at Central Elementary School as of March 14, according to the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.

Public health initially assessed that there were no school-related close contacts when a student tested positive on Saturday, said the school. But an update on Sunday said the case was, in fact, linked to another positive student from March 8.

It said the board is working with public health to manage the outbreak, and the school "remainsopen and safe."

Other public board cases

Several schools had three students each test positive since Friday, including Helen Detwiler Elementary School, Elizabeth Bagshaw Elementary School,Mount Albion Elementary School.

Two other students at Helen Detwiler had tested positive earlier in the week, but no outbreak has been declared.

According to the province, an outbreak is declared when there are two or more lab-confirmed cases that are linked to each other within a 14-day period, where at least one could have been acquired in the school, including transportation and before/after school care.

Also since Friday, one student has tested positive at each of thefollowing schools:

• Sherwood Secondary School.
• A.M. Cunningham Elementary School.
• Mountview Elementary School.
• Glen Echo Elementary School.
• Dundas Valley Secondary School.
• Ancaster High School.
• Balaclava Elementary School.
• Sir Isaac Brock Elementary School.

A student also tested positive as part of remote learning.

One student has been listed as a "probable" case at each of Bernie Custis Secondary School,Templemead Elementary School, andGuy Brown Elementary School.

Mary Hopkins Elementary School and Guy Brown Elementary School each reported that one staff member had tested positive over the weekend.

Cathy Wever Elementary School and Orchard Park Secondary School are both experiencing an outbreak, with one student and one staff testing positive each, says the City of Hamilton.

Catholic board

Seven students have tested positive since Friday at Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board schools.

A Bishop TonnosCatholic Secondary School student was reported as testing positive on Friday, and another was reported on Saturday. The school says the cases are unrelated.

St. Ann (Hamilton) Catholic Elementary School reported two cases on Saturday, as did St. Francis Xavier Catholic Elementary School.One student had tested positive at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Elementary School.

All three schools said that students, staff or cohorts required to quarantine would be notified by them immediately. Public health would be contacting close contacts, they said, but as this might take several days, people should follow school instructions.

As of Monday morning, there were two ongoing outbreaks across the board:St. Michael Catholic Elementary School, where four students have tested positive, andSt. Lawrence Catholic Elementary School, where two students have tested positive.

McMaster University

Two staff members at McMaster University were reported as testing positive on Friday. The cases are unrelated, according to the school.

One staff member tested positive on March 9, read a university statement.They werelast on campus on March 5in the John Hodgins Engineering Building.

The other staff member tested positive on March 10and was last on campus on March 4 in the T13 Building.

The university says all impacted areas have been thoroughly cleaned, and that public health is managing any contact tracing.

HillfieldStrathallanCollege

A senior school faculty member atHillfield Strathallan College has tested positive for COVID-19. The school says they were last on campus on March 10.

According to its Saturday update, if people had not been contacted by the school, they could attend classes on Tuesday, March 16 as normal.