Two classrooms have been closed as COVID-19 cases reach nine at St. Martin Catholic Elementary School in Smithville.
Niagara Region Public Health is recommending that all school staff should get tested if they have not already and is offering voluntary, on-site testing on Thursday by members of NRPH and Niagara EMS.
It is not recommending a school closure at this point, as the transmission is not widespread in the school. However, that decision can be made if more cases are detected.
There are no plans for group testing of students. NRPH recommends that parents who would like to get their children tested, do so at a testing centre in Niagara.
Of the nine cases, several are related to the initial two cases that defined an outbreak. Others have undetermined or unrelated origins. NRPH continues to investigate these cases.
The first case was identified on Nov. 13. The West Lincoln school was notified of the second case on Nov. 19, meeting the requirement of an outbreak. The two cases reported Monday were linked to the outbreak, but the two reported on the weekend were not. The school district’s advisory today did not disclose if the new cases were related to the outbreak.
“Niagara Catholic’s COVID response leads, as well as members of senior staff and the principal of St. Martin Catholic Elementary School, have been in regular contact with staff from Niagara Region Public Health to discuss what these growing numbers mean to the school community,” said a District School Board of Niagara advisory.
COVID-19 in Niagara schools
The DSBN is currently reporting 19 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in 16 of its schools, with three closed classrooms. All DSBN schools are open.
Niagara Catholic is reporting 34 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 13 active and 21 resolved, in 17 of its schools. All Niagara Catholic schools are open.
COVID-19 in West Niagara schools
Detailed data as follows for each school board :
District School Board of Niagara
| School | Location | Cases | Closed Classrooms | School Status | Resolved Cases | |
| Dalewood French Immersion Public School | St. Catharines | 1 | 0 | Open | 1 | |
| Eden High School | St. Catharines | 2 | 2 | Open | 1 | |
| E.I. McCulley Public School | St. Catharines | 1 | 1 | Open | 1 | |
| Ferndale Public School | St. Catharines | 1 | 0 | Open | 1 | |
| Governor Simcoe | St. Catharines | 1 | 0 | Open | 1 | |
| Grimsby Secondary School | Grimsby | 1 | 0 | Open | 1 | |
| Lincoln Centennial Public School | St. Catharines | 1 | 0 | Open | 1 | |
| Park Public School | Grimsby | 1 | 0 | Open | 1 | |
| Port Weller Public School | St. Catharines | 1 | 0 | Open | 1 | |
| Prince Philip French Immersion Public School | Niagara Falls | 1 | 1 | Open | 0 | |
| Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School | St. Catharines | 1 | 0 | Open | 1 | |
| Stevensville Public School | Stevensville (Fort Erie) | 1 | 0 | Open | 1 | |
| Valley Way Public School | Niagara Falls | 1 | 0 | Open | 1 | |
| Welland Eastdale Secondary School | Welland | 3 | 0 | Open | 3 | |
| Westdale Public School | St. Catharines | 1 | 1 | Open | 1 | |
| William Hamilton Merritt Public School | St. Catharines | 1 | 0 | Open | 1 |
Niagara Catholic School Board
| School | Location | Active Cases | Resolved Cases | Closure Status |
| Blessed Trinity Catholic Secondary School | Grimsby | 0 | 1 | Open |
| Canadian Martyrs Catholic Elementary School | St. Catharines | 0 | 2 | Open |
| Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School | St. Catharines | 0 | 2 | Open |
| Lakeshore Catholic High School | Port Colborne | 0 | 1 | Open |
| Mary Ward Catholic Elementary School | Niagara Falls | 0 | 1 | Open |
| Notre Dame College School | Welland | 0 | 1 | Open |
| Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Elementary School | Niagara Falls | 0 | 3 | Open |
| St. Alfred Catholic Elementary School | St. Catharines | 0 | 2 | Open |
| St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School | Welland | 0 | 1 | Open |
| St. Charlies Catholic Elementary School | Thorold | 1 | 0 | |
| St. James Catholic Elementary School | St. Catharines | 2 | 0 | Open |
| St. Martin Catholic Elementary School | Smithville | 9 | 0 | Open |
| St. Mary Catholic Elementary School | Niagara Falls | 0 | 2 | Open |
| St. Michael Catholic High School | Niagara Falls | 0 | 3 | Open |
| St. Paul Catholic High School | Niagara Falls | 0 | 1 | Open |
| St. Theresa Catholic Elementary School | St. Catharines | 1 | 0 | |
| St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Elementary School | Niagara Falls | 0 | 1 | Open |
School Board COVID-19 Online Trackers
Both Niagara school boards have online COVID-19 trackers that set out school data that parents can access online.
The District School Board of Niagara launched its tracker page at: https://www.dsbn.org/covid-19-information/covid-19-public-advisory.
It publishes a table of its schools listed alphabetically and tracks the “date of confirmed positive test” along with confirmed cases in each school, closed classrooms, and school closure status.
For example, the first DSBN school to register a COVID-19 case was Eastdale Secondary School in Welland. It shows the latest test date of Sept 18, 2020. It shows three cases and five closed classrooms.
The boards do not report who was infected, or whether the case relates to a student or staff member.
Niagara Catholic District School Board also launched its COVID-19 school tracker page at: https://niagaracatholic.ca/covid-19-advisories/
It specifies in a table the schools, active cases, resolved cases, Closure Status, (open or closed).