Return to school sees new COVID-19 cases in schools

By Courtney Bachar/The Oshawa Express/LJJI Reporter

New COVID-19 cases have been reported at Durham schools since students returned to in-person learning less than two weeks ago.

Durham students returned to in-person learning on Tuesday, Feb. 16; students were learning virtually since returning from the winter break due to an increase in COVID-19 cases across the province.

As of Friday, Feb. 19, 20 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported at Durham District School Board schools, including five schools in Oshawa.

There is one case at O’Neill CVI, three cases at Maxwell Heights SS, one case at Mary Street Community School, one case at Dr. S.J. Phillips PS, and one at Clara Hughes PS.

There are also cases at Port Perry High School, Valley Farm PS, Pine Ridge SS, Maple Ridge PS, Gandatsetiagon PS, and DASS Pickering in Pickering, Romeo Dallaire PS, Alexander Graham Bell PS, and J. Clarke Richardson Collegiate in Ajax, and C.E. Broughton PS in Whitby.

There are also 13 active COVID-19 cases among Durham Catholic board schools, including two cases at St. Joseph Catholic School in Oshawa, as well as cases at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic School in Whitby, and St. Isaac Jogues Catholic School and St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Pickering.

Meanwhile, across the region, 26 new cases of COVID-19 were reported Thursday, with six new cases reported in Oshawa.

In total, there are currently 267 active COVID-19 cases across the region. Of those, 246 are in home isolation, and 21 are in hospital with 11 patients in the ICU. A total of 293 people in Durham have succumbed to COVID-19, 216 of which were residents of long-term care and retirement homes.

There are currently nine institutional outbreaks ongoing throughout the region, including Amica at Whitby, Village of Taunton Mills Retirement Home, and Fairview Lodge in Whitby, Port Perry Place, Orchard Villa Nursing Home, Abbeylawn Manor Retirement Home and Viva Pickering Retirement Home in Pickering, Seasons Clarington Retirement Home in Bowmanville, Chartwell Wynfield LTCH and Hillsdale Estates in Oshawa, Lakeview Manor LTCH in Beaverton, and Butternut Manor in Uxbridge.

An institutional outbreak is declared when there is at least one case of COVID-19 in a long-term care or retirement home.