Toronto Public Health is reporting 12 people connected to Upper Canada College have tested positive for coronavirus since Feb. 25.
A letter from Upper Canada College, an all-boys private school located near Avenue Road and St. Clair Avenue West, said in-person classes were suspended and students were moved to online learning as of Monday.
Officials said voluntary mass testing is being conducted for all students and staff. School staff decided to close for in-person classes until test results are completed.
“The majority of people who tested positive have had close contact with someone in a community or household setting,” Toronto Public Health said in a statement.
Upper Canada College in its letter indicated that mass testing would occur on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Toronto Public Health’s definition of an outbreak at a school is when there are two or more cases and one person could have “reasonably acquired COVID-19 in the school setting.”
However, the local public health unit went on to say that “since the people who have tested positive have links in the community for where they likely acquired COVID-19, an outbreak has not been declared in this school.”
Meanwhile, government figures show there have been a total of 10,421 school-related COVID-19 cases in Ontario to date. The statistics showed an increase of 367 more cases (301 students and 66 staff) between Friday afternoon and Monday afternoon.
The COVID-19 cases were reported at 893 out of 4,828 schools in the province. The government reported 27 schools in Ontario are currently closed as a result of positive cases.
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