School Resources for COVID-19

• Helping schools, parents, and children to apply public health measures locally, reducing the risk of spread of COVID-19
  • Supporting the use of provincial school guidance
  • Supporting school boards in development of their re-opening plans
  • Supporting schools to implement strong infection prevention and control practices
  • Providing child-friendly resources to support important measures such as physical distancing, effective hand hygiene, and use of face coverings in schools
• Leading the management of cases, contacts, and outbreaks in schools
• Providing extra support to schools with dedicated public health nurses

Following public health measures in schools will support keeping students and staff safe. The most important measures continue to be physical distancing as much as possible, wearing a mask, staying home when sick, and washing hands. 

For tips about infection prevention and control for parents, guardians and caregivers, see Public Health Ontario's Preventing COVID-19: Tips for Children Attending School.

• If you have one or more symptoms of COVID-19, you should not attend school. Stay home, self-isolate, and get tested as soon as possible.
• Find information about the assessment centres:
  • If your result is negative, you can stop self-isolating and return to school once your symptoms have improved for at least 24 hours (or 48 hours for gastrointestinal symptoms)
  • If your result is positive, self-isolate for ten days from when your symptoms started or as directed by Public Health
  • If you are unable or unwilling to go for testing, you must self-isolate for ten days from symptom onset date or receive an alternative diagnosis by your health care provider. Refer to your employer/school administrator regarding return to work/school guidance
• Household members who are not fully vaccinated* must self-isolate until you receive a negative test result.
• Household members that are fully vaccinated, do not need to stay at home but should continue to follow recommended public health measures (masking, physical distancing, handwashing, etc.).

* Fully vaccinated = 14 days or more since your second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine

• Household members who are not fully vaccinated must self-isolate until the symptomatic person receives a negative test result.
• If the symptomatic person is unable or unwilling to go for testing and has not received an alternative diagnosis by a health care provider, unvaccinated household members must self-isolate for 10 days from their last exposure date to the symptomatic person. Refer to your employer/school administrator regarding return to work/school guidance.
• Household members who are fully vaccinated, do not need to self-isolate but should continue to follow recommended public health measures (masking, physical distancing, handwashing, etc.).

Use the COVID-19 School and Child Care Screening Tool to determine if your child should be tested. 

Visit the Assessment and Testing Centre webpage for information about testing in Waterloo Region. 

Household contacts do not need to be tested unless they also have symptoms or have been advised by Public Health to seek testing.

However, unvaccinated household members are required to self-isolate while awaiting the symptomatic child’s test results.

Use the COVID-19 School and Child Care Screening Tool to determine if your child should be tested.  

If someone at school contracts COVID-19, Public Health will conduct an investigation to determine who had close contact with the individual. Public Health will then contact each person who had close contact and recommend self-isolation at home, as appropriate.

Read more about what happens when a positive or suspected case of COVID-19 is identified at school.

Due to privacy of personal health information, the name of the person who has COVID-19 will not be shared. For more details on what will happen, see the Ministry of Education’s COVID-19: Health, safety and operational guidance for schools (2021-2022)

Care must to be taken to avoid stigmatizing students and staff. Schools should continue to be welcoming, respectful, inclusive and supportive environments for all. 

There is no set number of COVID-19 infections used to determine if a school will need to close. It is not always necessary to shut down the entire classroom or school if there is a case of COVID-19 in the school, and decisions will be based on a risk assessment. Even though an outbreak may be declared in the school, Public Health will assist in determining which cohort(s) may be sent home or if a partial or full school closure is required based on the scope of the outbreak. For more details, see the Ministry of Education’s COVID-19: Health, safety and operational guidance for schools (2021-2022).

It is important to note that if the infection rate in the broader community increases, it could also impact the number of people who get COVID-19 in schools. As a result, for the safety of everyone, there may be a time when schools need to close again. 

The Province has defined a school outbreak as two or more lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in students and/or staff in a school with an epidemiological link, within a 14-day period, where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the school (including transportation and before or after school care).

Public Health will work with the school to determine if an outbreak exists, declare an outbreak, and provide direction on outbreak control measures. For more details on what will happen, see the Ministry of Education’s COVID-19: Health, safety and operational guidance for schools (2021-2022)

Early detection and responding to outbreaks in schools is important for controlling the transmission of the virus in the community. Public Health has a lot of experience helping schools when infectious diseases, such as measles, are detected. Public Health will use this experience when monitoring for potential cases and responding quickly if there is a COVID-19 outbreak in a school. 

Close contact and a high-risk contact are the same thing. 

Individuals who know that they are a close contact or a high-risk contact of a confirmed positive case should self-isolate and only call Public Health if you have not heard from us after three days.

Please note that you may receive a call from Public Health Ontario or Statistics Canada who are providing contact tracing support to our health unit. 

• Household members who are not fully vaccinated must self-isolate until the symptomatic person receives a negative test result.
• If the symptomatic person is unable or unwilling to go for testing and has not received an alternative diagnosis by a health care provider, unvaccinated household members must self-isolate for 10 days from their last exposure date to the symptomatic person. Refer to your employer/school administrator regarding return to work/school guidance.
• Household members who are fully vaccinated, do not need to self-isolate but should continue to follow recommended public health measures (masking, physical distancing, handwashing, etc.). 

Household contacts do not need to be tested unless they also have symptoms or have been advised by Public Health to seek testing.

However, unvaccinated household members are required to self-isolate while awaiting the symptomatic child’s test results.

Use the COVID-19 School and Child Care Screening Tool to determine if your child should be tested.   

• The best face covering or mask is the one that fits comfortably.
• A cloth mask should be made with two or more layers of fabric and be easy to breathe through.
• It should be large enough to cover the nose, mouth and chin without any gaps.
• Plastic masks or face shields are not a substitute for cloth masks.
• Masks should be stored in something breathable like a paper bag, fabric bag or envelope that does not retain moisture, if the mask will be worn again.
• Pack several masks each day and send your child to school with two bags for masks, one labelled "clean" and one "dirty."
  • Instruct your child to put their mask in the "dirty" bag if it gets wet or soiled, and to use a new, clean mask.
• Wash the masks at the end of each day before reuse. 

The Region of Waterloo’s face covering by-law does not apply to schools. Schools are under provincial jurisdiction (the Ministry of Education) and Region of Waterloo by-laws do not apply.

Visit your school board's website for more information on their face covering policies:

• WRDSB
• WCDSB
• Conseil scolaire Viamonde
• Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir 

How will masks be enforced in schools?

Visit your school board's website for more information on their face covering policies:

• WRDSB
• WCDSB
• Conseil scolaire Viamonde
• Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir  

Visit your school board's website for more information on transportation:

• WRDSB
• WCDSB
• Conseil scolaire Viamonde
• Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir 

Visit your school board's website for more information on classrooms:

• WRDSB
• WCDSB
• Conseil scolaire Viamonde
• Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir