Multiple area schools close due to COVID-19 ahead of holiday break
Several schools have been temporarily closed due to COVID-19, including the first closure of a London high school for the current school year.
The London District Catholic School Board’s (LDCSB) website confirms that St. Andre Bessette in the city’s northwest end has been closed.
It is the result of many staff and students having to quarantine after possibly being exposed to the Omicron variant.
As of Monday there are four cases at the school and “more to come,” according to the LDCSB Director of Education Vince Romeo.
“It was because of the vast numbers of students affected and staff over multiple classrooms that we made the decision to move to remote learning for this week,” said Romeo.
Meanwhile the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) has closed Westmount Public School ahead of the winter break.
According to the board there have been several close contacts with a confirmed case of COVID-19 with potential links to the Omicron variant.
The number of close contacts has made staffing the school a challenge and therefore it will shift to online learning for the final week.
The same also goes for Caradoc Public School in Mount Brydges. It will temporarily close starting Dec 14. The school will be transitioning to virtual learning until the end of the winter break.
The TVDSB had already closed Princess Elizabeth School last Thursday for similar reasons.
The schools are expected to reopen following the holiday break on Jan. 3, 2022.
In addition, two French-language school are closed according to the Conseil Scolaire Catholique Providence.
École élémentaire catholique Saint-Jean-de-Brébeuf and École élémentaire catholique Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc are both closed.
They are the latest schools to be affected by a surge of cases in the community that has closed a number of schools.
St. Marguerite d'Youville School, St. Nicholas Catholic School and St. Mary Choir and Orchestra Catholic School were expected to reopen Monday after being closed for nearly a week.
On Monday Ontario reported 1,536 new COVID-19 cases as the positivity rate continues to climb.
- With files from CTV News London's Jennifer Basa
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Train derailed in Sarnia after colliding with a truck
Police are investigating after a transport truck collided with a train in Sarnia.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.