19 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at an elementary school in East York

The Toronto District School Board has confirmed to Global News that there are 19 positive cases of COVID-19 linked to Thorncliffe Park Public School.

The board says 433 tests were completed on staff and students on Thursday and Friday.

Eighteen students and one staff member tested positive for the virus.

This comes days after the Ontario government launched a pilot project for voluntary COVID-19 testing of students and staff without symptoms in schools.

Principal Jeff Crane sent a letter to parents Sunday evening.

“The positivity rate within the school is approximately 4% which is significantly less than the 16% positivity rate within the Thorncliffe Park community,” he said.

Ryan Bird, a spokesperson for the TDSB, said that there were originally 20 positive cases recorded but that one was a “false positive.”

The school’s total number of active cases now stands at 22.

Fourteen classes have been asked to self-isolate for 14 days, Bird said in an email.

The East York school will remain open and a deep cleaning of the building will be conducted before school hours.

Additional COVID-19 testing at the school is scheduled to continue on Monday.