THUNDER BAY – A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at St. Ann School in Thunder Bay, after health authorities found evidence the virus likely spread within the school setting.
There were five cases associated with the Westfort elementary school Friday, unchanged from the previous day.
However, the discovery that the virus had likely spread within the school prompted the Thunder Bay District Health Unit to declare the outbreak, the agency said in a release issued Friday evening.
An initial case was reported at the school on Tuesday, and four more were announced Thursday.
The health unit indicated all high-risk contacts of the cases had been contacted, and impacted cohorts had been dismissed. The school remains open.
St. Ann is one of six local schools where COVID-19 cases have been reported this week: St. Martin elementary moved to at-home learning due to an outbreak that grew to 20 cases on Monday, a case was reported at Elsie MacGill elementary Wednesday, cases were announced at St. Ignatius secondary and Gron Morgan elementary on Thursday, and two cases were announced at Westgate secondary on Friday.
The spike in school cases comes as the Thunder Bay District hit 68 active cases Friday, the highest level since June 5. None of those people were in hospital with the virus as of Friday morning.
