Begley Public has largest school outbreak of COVID-19 in Ontario
The recent COVID-19 outbreak at Frank W. Begley Public School in Windsor is now believed to involve at least 39 cases — the largest outbreak of the novel coronavirus at any school in Ontario since the start of the pandemic.
The Greater Essex County District School Board updated its website over the weekend to list 26 confirmed cases at the school. But on Monday morning, the Windsor-essex County Health Unit upgraded the number to 39 cases, with two of them probable and 37 confirmed.
Dr. Wajid Ahmed, the region's medical officer of health, noted the first COVID-19 case at the school was recorded on Nov. 8.
The situation is an indication of how Windsor-essex could be in “bad shape very quickly” with school outbreaks, Ahmed said Monday.
“We need to recognize what is at stake, and how quickly things can get worse,” he warned.
Windsor Regional Hospital's Met Campus moved COVID-19 assessment resources into the school's gymnasium on Saturday and Sunday to test staff, students and their family members.
As of Monday, the confirmed cases at Begley are among eight staff members and 29 students. Ahmed said he expects more positive test results are coming.
When the outbreak was declared last week, Begley was closed and its entire school community — an estimated 430 students and staff members — was dismissed and asked to self-isolate.
The public board at first said the school would be temporarily closed for 14 days. But over the weekend, the GECDSB website was updated to state that Begley will be “closed until further notice.”
The first three cases at the school were staff members. The health unit initially advised that Nov. 12 was a potential exposure date at the school.
As of Monday morning, 283 students, 74 staff members, and 141 family members connected to the school had been tested.
Ahmed described Begley Public School as having “many high-risk families” in its school community, such as low-income families with multiple children going to different schools.
There are also language barriers, Ahmed said: Some families may not understand daily screening of their children for symptoms, or how to educate their children on COVID-19.
“There are a number of social determinants of health issues we are also addressing,” Ahmed said.
The health unit is continuing to investigate how COVID-19 was brought to the school and spread between cohorts.
Located at 1093 Assumption St., Frank W. Begley Public School serves students from junior kindergarten to Grade 8.
Mario Spagnuolo, president of the Greater Essex local of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, described the situation at the school as a “crisis.” But he pointed out that the teachers of the school have adapted quickly and are still doing their jobs, via remote education.
“There's a lot of concern in the community. But at the same time, our teachers are heroes, in my books, because they're trying to put that aside and focus on their students at Begley,” Spagnuolo said.
Sharon Pyke, superintendent of student well-being for the GECDSB, said devices for remote learning have been provided to all Begley students who needed them.
Classes resumed on Monday, adhering to the same daily schedule students would have had if they were physically attending the school.
“We want to make sure that our kids are keeping up some sort of routine,” Pyke said. “We want to mimic the school day, because, of course, they're going to be coming back to school as soon as they're able.”
Deep cleaning of the school began on Nov. 20 and will continue this week, Pyke said.
She said the situation at Begley should serve as a reminder to every family of the importance of following COVID-19 guidelines, for the good of the community.
“It's about encouraging everyone to keep the pressure on: Wash your hands, wear masks, physically distance, and stay home if you're ill,” Pyke said. “Self-assessment in the morning is a measure that everybody should be taking.”
From Saturday to Monday, the public school board also announced new cases of COVID-19 at four other schools: Sandwich West Public School, Sandwich Secondary School, Tecumseh Vista Secondary School, and Riverside Secondary School — each with one case.
Since Nov. 12, the presence of the novel coronavirus has been reported at 10 schools under the Greater Essex County District School Board.
Last week, an outbreak was also declared at a location under the separate school board: W. J. Langlois Catholic Elementary School was closed due to four confirmed cases, as of Nov. 20.
Across the province, the school with the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases on record is Pickering High School in Ajax, with 18 confirmations.
Meanwhile, the University of Windsor announced Monday confirmation of another case of COVID-19 on campus, unrelated to previously reported cases on campus.
“The member of the campus community is self-isolating and all appropriate protocols and cleaning measures have been taken,” the university stated in a release.
St. Clair College also recently updated its website to indicate that one individual who had been on campus had tested positive for COVID-19.
At Queen's Park on Monday, NDP education critic Marit Stiles confronted the provincial government and Ontario's Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce, about the outbreaks at Begley and Langlois schools.
Stiles questioned why “no additional measures (were) announced to protect students and staff?”
Lecce responded by saying, “99.95 per cent of students are COVID-FREE in Windsor and every region of this province ... the plan we've unveiled, endorsed by the medical officer of this province, is working.”
Stiles countered that there have been more than 3,800 school-related cases of COVID-19 in Ontario, as of Monday — up from 1,770 in late October, with positivity rates rising among children under the age of 10.