The London District Catholic School Board announced two more school closures due to COVID-19, bringing the total number of schools currently closed to in-person learning across various school boards in London, Ont., to seven.
The Catholic board said Tuesday evening that it was closing Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School in London, Ont., “effective immediately due to the number of students and staff quarantining as a result of multiple likely and/or confirmed positive Omicron variant COVID-19 cases.” The closure impacts over 1,150 students and staff.
The board also announced it is closing St. Theresa Catholic Elementary School in London effective immediately for the same reason.
“Since the cases affect staff in multiple different classrooms throughout the schools as part of their regular duties, this decision was made out of an abundance of caution to help ensure the health, safety and well-being of all 300-plus students and staff at the school,” the board said.
Both schools will be closed the rest of the week and it’s believed in-person classes will resume after the Christmas break, officials said.
Information on confirmed active cases can be found on the board’s website through its Status of LDCSB Schools link. According to that page, there is only one active case each at Mother Teresa and St. Theresa.
However, the Middlesex-London Health Unit is currently treating all cases as though they involve the Omicron variant, which requires all close contacts, regardless of vaccination status, to quarantine for 10 days after last exposure to an individual with COVID-19.
In addition to Mother Teresa and St. Theresa, Saint André Bessette Catholic Secondary School within the LDCSB is also closed.
The Thames Valley District School Board’s Westmount Public School and Princess Elizabeth Public School are also closed. Caradoc Public School in Mount Brydges is also closed.
At least two local schools under Conseil Scolaire Catholique Providence are closed as a result of COVID-19 outbreaks.
The health unit reported Monday that an outbreak had been declared at École Élémentaire Catholique Ste-Jeanne-d’Arc, linked to three cases, while an outbreak declared on Friday at École Élémentaire Catholique Saint-Jean-de-Brébeuf was now associated with nine active cases.
— with files from Global News’ Sawyer Bogdan and Natalie Lovie