A third school within the Thames Valley District school board is now dealing with a confirmed case of COVID-19.
The school board announced on Wednesday a student at Saunders Secondary School has tested positive for the virus.
"Thames Valley wishes to assure the school community that staff and parents/guardians of all Saunders students were immediately notified. The school will remain open and school buses will operate," the board said in a statement.
All students and staff who may have come into close contact with the infected person were contacted by the Middlesex London Health Unit late Tuesday night. They have been asked to remain in self-isolation for 14 days.
Health unit investigators have determined the student attended class while infectious.
“We’re working with the case directly and will be providing guidance to their close contacts today,” said Middlesex-London Medical Officer of Health Dr. Chris Mackie. “We’re seeing a very small number of cases being reported in schools and there’s been no transmission in these settings to date. That said, we and our school partners will continue to be vigilant.”
In order to protect the infected student's privacy, the health unit said it will not be releasing any additional information about the individual including age, grade or number of close contacts at the school.
The confirmed case at Saunders has been added to the board's COVID-19 alerts website. It shows the case as effecting one classroom.
The board's third positive case comes just over a week after an infected individual was identified at Mitchell Hepburn Public School in St. Thomas and two weeks after a person at H.B. Beal Secondary School contracted the virus.
