Dartmouth South Academy will be closed this week on the advice of the province’s top doctor in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19 within the school.
The announcement was made by the province Sunday night, and takes effect Monday. The P-9 school is slated to close until Friday.
The pre-primary centre, which is located on a separate site from the school, will remain open.
“While our goal is to keep students learning in the classroom, I was clear that if stronger measures were needed, like closing a school, we would not hesitate to act,” said Dr. Robert Strang, chief medical officer of health, in a news release.
“The regional medical officer of health team has been closely monitoring this situation and they are recommending a temporary closure to contain the spread.”
A mobile testing unit will be at the school Monday from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. and is scheduled to return later in the week.
The province also said the school’s principal will contact families about learning from home.
According to the province’s list of school COVID-19 exposures, Dartmouth South Academy has had four exposure notices between Oct. 10 and 14. The list has not been updated since then.
Dartmouth South Academy, which is located on Prince Arthur Avenue in Dartmouth, is the second Halifax Regional Centre for Education school to be closed due to rising COVID-19 cases.
Duc d’Anville Elementary School in Halifax’s Clayton Park neighbourhood was shut down Oct. 12. Students were asked to obtain a negative COVID-19 test before returning to school on Oct. 18.