More details are emerging surrounding a case of COVID-19 reported at H.B. Beal Secondary School. The case marks the first reported among elementary and secondary schools in London, Ont., and Middlesex County.
The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) first reported the case on Monday and provincial health officials have since confirmed that the infected individual was a student at Beal.
The MLHU and the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) plan to release more details surrounding the case during a media briefing at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
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London-Middlesex sees first school case of COVID-19 at H.B. Beal Secondary School: MLHU
Grayson Bennett, a student in a fifth-year specialty program at Beal, told Global News before the morning bell on Tuesday that he hopes everybody who needs to get tested is following up on that obligation.
Bennett added that he still feels safe at Beal.
“I’m just fortunate for my situation because in my program, I’m in contact with three people, but I know most classes are obviously more than that,” Bennett said.
“I know they have made (classes) smaller, but there’s only so much you can do.”
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Grade 9 student Ahmad Fandi expressed concern and said he was a little bit worried about coming to school on Tuesday.
“We very were scared,” Fandi said.
“If it’s one case … it’s going to be two, four, and I think they should shut down schools again. They should make it online.”
John Bernans, the local district president for the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), the union that represents a number of high school teachers in TVDSB, said a case among schools in the region was to be expected.
“If it’s circulating in the community, it certainly is going to end up in the schools, sooner or later,” Bernans said.
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While the region’s only school-related case remains exclusive to Beal, Bernans said teachers from all over his district have been expressing coronavirus concerns.
These concerns relate to delivery issues relating to personal protective equipment and a lack of hand sanitizer, according to Bernans.
Bernans added that teachers have also expressed concerns about the hybrid learning model the province has mandated them to adopt.
“Some of the students are at home and some of the students are in class and somehow the teacher needs to deliver in both venues at the same,” Bernans said.
“That, of course, is going to create problems for both teachers and students.”
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The infection at Beal comes as London and Middlesex County deal with three community outbreaks of COVID-19.
The first two outbreaks, reported last week, are associated with gatherings involving Western University students.
The third outbreak, declared on Friday, came after three employees at a Walmart in northeast London tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
This story will be updated following Tuesday’s media briefing at 2 p.m.