Parents 'crowdsource' self-reporting website for school COVID-19 cases

Frustrated that school-related COVID-19 cases are no longer being reported by their child's school, a pair of Kincardine, Ont. parents have decided to take matter into their own hands.

“We’re parents of a six-year-old. So, trying to decide whether to send your child to school or not becomes a lot trickier when we don’t have numbers and caseloads. So, we went looking for a way to try and find more information, to help us make an informed decision,” says Keith Foster, the web designer and Kincardine parent behind covid.inkincardine.com.

Keith and Sarah Foster are the parents behind the website where Kincardine-area families can self-report their child’s positive COVID-19 rapid tests and/or their COVID-19-related household isolation.

They’re currently taking in self-reports for nine schools and daycares in Kincardine, Walkerton and Ripley.

“What we’re tracking is really absenteeism at the schools in our area, so we can look at the data and say, should I send our kids to school, rather than just guessing. We now have a least a little bit more information to make somewhat of a more informed decision,” says Keith.

As of Dec. 24, 2021, Ontario schools no longer have to report individual COVID-19 cases to the public. They’re only required to tell parents when absenteeism surpasses 30 per cent.

The Bluewater District School Board says they’ll be following the 30 per cent threshold, while officials with the Avon Maitland District School Board says they’re still deciding on their COVID-19 reporting.

“We’ve had both positive and negative feedback so far. Some folks think it’s just fear mongering by putting the numbers out there, but others have found it really helpful and have encouraged parents to bookmark it and use it,” says Sarah.

The Fosters contacted an epidemiologist before creating their site, who recommended removing age-based reports for privacy reasons.

The site, which was manually managed by the Fosters in the beginning, now essentially runs itself, actually automatically removing reported cases once the reported isolation period ends.

“The data is really only as accurate as what we get from people. So, there’s lots of trust that people are submitting correct data, but the data we have is the best that we have. There is really no other way for us to make an informed decision, so we really just have to roll with it,” says Keith.