Students from another school board a bus outside Thorncliffe Park Public School in Toronto on Dec. 4, 2020.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Students in Toronto and Peel Region who develop even one COVID-19 symptom should stay home from school, according to new public health screening guidelines as cases in both areas continue to rise.
The stricter guidelines, which take effect on Monday, mean children with symptoms that include a runny nose, sore throat, headache or diarrhea, should stay home from school and get tested or contact their health care provider. Siblings are required to remain at home, even if they have no symptoms.
The rules announced on Friday are a departure from provincial guidance that allows children to return to school after 24 hours of less serious symptoms, such as a runny nose or headache, if they are improving.
School screening guidance has changed several times this academic year, causing confusion among parents, many of whom have waited hours in line to get their children tested for the virus. Doctors have called on public health officials to give families clear advice and require students to stay home no matter how mild the symptoms.
Toronto Public Health said on Friday that its decision was based on monitoring cases and outbreaks related to schools, as well as a testing pilot of asymptomatic students and staff. Thorncliffe Park Public School, minutes away from a cluster of high-rise apartment buildings northeast of the city’s downtown, told families on Thursday evening it will close temporarily after a COVID-19 testing blitz uncovered more than two dozen cases in the school.
“We know how important in-person school learning is for children and their development, and there are significant benefits to keeping schools open,” said Vinita Dubey, the city’s associate medical officer of health. She added that the changes would help make sure schools remain open for in-person learning as much as is safely possible.
The new guidelines recommend that children with symptoms, even if they are mild, be tested for COVID-19. Siblings would remain at home as well. If the test results are positive, then students and their siblings are required to stay home from school for 10 days from the day symptoms started. If the test results are negative, siblings can return and the child may go back 24 hours after symptoms improve.
Toronto and Peel public health units require children who are not tested to stay away from school for 10 days from when symptoms started, and they can return only if symptoms are improving. Siblings would be required to stay at home during that time as well. In Peel, public health guidelines require all members of the household to remain at home.
Asked if the province would change its screening guidelines to mirror those of Toronto and Peel, Caitlin Clark, a spokeswoman for Education Minister Stephen Lecce, said in an e-mail statement that the provincial guidance is a baseline. She said local medical officers of health can enhance measures based on the situation.
Anna Banerji, a pediatric infectious-disease specialist and professor at the University of Toronto, said children across the province who have even mild symptoms should have to stay away from school for at least a week. She said local health units that toughened the screening guidelines were on the right track.
“We need to do everything we can to stop driving this epidemic,” Dr. Banerji said. “Here we are shutting everything down, affecting people’s livelihoods. We’re basically in lockdown. Yet we allow kids to go to school sick. That loophole should have stopped months ago.”
Joy Henderson, a parent in Scarborough, Ont., worries that the changes in screening guidelines will be a “logistical nightmare” for parents, some of whom would have to take unpaid time off work. She said she understands why the guidance is changing, but was concerned about children missing days of school.
“Right now, it’s going to be an extra tough set of restrictions we have to negotiate through,” Ms. Henderson said.
Councillor Joe Cressy, chair of Toronto’s Board of Health, acknowledged the challenges many families face, adding that the province needs to step in with sick-leave provisions.
“Given the case counts that we are seeing and given the recent results of the first wide surveillance testing in the school system, it’s clear that if we’re going to prevent transmission, prevent outbreaks and keep schools open, we need more rigorous screening protocols,” Mr. Cressy said.
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