A Toronto School Is Dismissing All Students RN Over An Ongoing COVID-19 Investigation

Students were sent home early for winter break this year at a Toronto middle school.

Based on the recommendation of Toronto Public Health (TPH), Cosburn Middle School is temporarily dismissing all of its students from school activities and in-person learning starting December 15. The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) announced that students will still carry on with their studies through online learning while they're at home.

"We are recommending a whole school dismissal as a precautionary measure to protect staff, students and the community from further COVID-19 transmission within the school," TPH tweeted about the decision.

According to TDSB's COVID-19 advisories webpage, there are 15 confirmed cases among students and one case among staff. Based on the website, Cosburn Middle School is currently the only school in the Toronto District School Board that is closed.

The school board said that the dismissal will give TPH extra time to investigate the COVID-19 cases at the school.

“As we’re heading into the winter break, it will very likely remain in place for the remainder of this week and we would anticipate students would be able to return immediately following the break,” Ryan Bird, the executive officer of government, public and community relations for TDSB told Narcity via email.

Toronto Public Health noted that it is working alongside school partners to figure out when students can come back for in-person learning. TPH said it alerted all close contacts and asked them to stay home, check for symptoms, and get tested for COVID-19.

Earlier this month, Toronto Public Health announced it was looking into its first school-based Omicron variant case at a Scarborough school.

On December 10, Ontario said it will be ramping up public health measures amid growing concerns about the Omicron variant, including new proof of vaccination requirements for youth between 12 and 17 years old.