Students in 13 schools across the St.John’s area, in both the English and French school districts, are staying home Tuesday and Wednesday as in-person classes have been suspended due to COVID-19.
The closure will last “at least two days,” the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District said in a statement released late Monday night. The district said it was acting on the advice of public health, “to allow public health to expand its contact tracing into other school populations in the metro area.”
Mount Pearl Senior High was closed for an indefinite period of time effective Monday after two students there tested positive for the virus over the weekend. With 11 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the province Monday, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald said there are a “significant number of contacts” associated with the Mount Pearl school cluster, as well as sports teams.
The suspension affects 12 English schools that service Grades 7 through 12, as well as Ecole Rocher-du-Nord in the French district.
With students out of classrooms, the NLESD said it will now prepare to move teaching online. Teachers and staff — minus those at Mount Pearl Senior — will still report to school, it said, “to begin preparation for online instruction.”
The District has released the following information to media and <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/nlschools?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#nlschools</a>. The complete release is available on the District website – <a href=”https://t.co/Hc6L46pfOP”>https://t.co/Hc6L46pfOP</a> <br>As we continue to work with <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/publichealth?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#publichealth</a> a further update is expected tomorrow (Tuesday). <a href=”https://t.co/1ZeHYyot5w”>pic.twitter.com/1ZeHYyot5w</a>
—@NLESDCA
All schools in the St. John’s area had been closed on Monday due to the winter storm, meaning the last day any students there were in class was Friday.
