A COVID-19 outbreak at a school in Kitchener will force its doors shut for another week.
St. John Catholic Elementary School was initially scheduled to re-open on March 8 but will now remain closed until March 11.
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“After consulting with the school board, it has been decided that we will see the safest possible re-opening of our school after all of the current individual and class quarantines are completed,” Principal Paul Gladding said in a letter to parents.
“By doing so we know that everyone has been away from the school community for a minimum of 14 days since the last attendance of a person that tested positive.”
An outbreak was declared at the school on Feb. 25, which has spread to include 12 cases.
According to the Waterloo Catholic District School Board there have been 16 cases involving staff or students since Feb. 20.
The outbreak is one of 29 which are currently active in Waterloo Region with no new ones being announced by Waterloo Public Health on Thursday.
The agency did announce 34 new positive COVID-19 tests, lifting the total number of cases in the area to 10,870.
This is the lowest number of new cases the region has seen in a week.
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The agency also reported another 49 people being cleared of the virus, raising the total number of resolved cases in the area to 10,237.
Another COVID-19-related death was reported, lifting the death toll to 229.
There are currently 391 active COVID-19 cases in Waterloo Region including 42 people who are in area hospitals.