All Thunder Bay schools recommended to move online next week

The medical officer of health for the Thunder Bay District is recommending all schools in the city and surroundingarea move to online learning.

A letter from the Thunder Bay District Health Unit signed by Dr. Janet DeMille was sent to school boards on Thursday afternoon, advising them of her recommendation to pause in-person learning for two weeks.

The Lakehead public and Thunder Bay Catholic district school boards confirmed they will follow the recommendation, starting on March 1, and will provide more details about the transition once they receive further information from public health.

Four schools Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute, Kingsway Park Public School, St. James Public School and Woodcrest Public School were closed for in-person learning this week after COVID-19 outbreaks were declared. Cases have also been identified at several other schools, including one announced Thursday at Ogden Community School.

Lakehead District School Board trustees earlier this week passed a resolution requesting that the local health unit and ministries of education and health allow them to shift all learning online. At the time, the board had 570 students representing over seven per cent of its enrolmentand 55 teachers in isolation because of potential COVID-19 exposure.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Thunder Bay District have skyrocketed, with 315 active and 257 announced within the last seven days. The vast majority are located in Thunder Bay and the surrounding area.

In the letter, DeMille said the recommendation was being made due to the high number of cases in school communities, as well as the risk of variants of concern.