UPDATE: 11:33 a.m. 2021-09-14: Last night the Eastern Ontario Health Unit announced that most Viscount Alexander Public School students will be allowed to return to the classroom. Those who were at greatest risk of exposure to COVID-19 have been notified and may need to stay home for up to one week.
CORNWALL, Ontario – The Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) has announced that Viscount Alexander Public School would be closed for at least one week as of Monday, Sept. 13 to limit the spread of an ongoing outbreak of COVID-19.
The UCDSB announced that this decision was made by the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) after it received reports of positive cases of COVID-19 at the school. The UCDSB did not directly disclose exactly how many positive cases of COVID-19 there were at the school, but according to their website, there is one active case of COVID-19.
Viscount Alexander is one of five schools that the UCDSB states had one or more students test positive for COVID-19 over the past two days, but Viscount Alexander is the only one that has been closed by the health unit.
The other schools with positive cases are Pleasant Corners Public School in Vankleek Hill, Vankleek Collegiate Institute also in Vankleek Hill, South Edwardsburg Public School in Johnstown, and St. Lawrence Secondary School in Cornwall. According to the UCDSB all of those schools also have had one active case of COVID-19.
“The Eastern Ontario Health Unit and the Leeds, Grenville & Lanark Health Unit have done assessments to determine those within the schools who may have had a high-risk exposure, and are actively communicating with those people,” reads a statement from the UCDSB. “St. Lawrence Secondary School, South Edwardsburg Public School, Vankleek Collegiate Institute and Pleasant Corners Public School remain open and operating on the regular daily schedule. Viscount Alexander Public School has been closed by the Eastern Ontario Health Unit until at least September 20 as a means to limit further exposures and spread within the school and community.”
The UCDSB did not state how or if education would be delivered to Viscount Alexander students during the closure.
