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It was a roller coaster weekend for Toronto father Yaser Nadaf, after Ontario’s new asymptomatic testing for schools in COVID-19 hotspots found 19 new positive cases at his children’s school.
While her daughter and her grade 3 class were cleared to return to school on Monday, her son’s grade 2 class had to self-isolate for 14 days, even though the young man himself was among those who tested negative.
The weekend testing blitz at Thorncliffe Park Public School – the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) first home selected for the voluntary pilot test announced last week – saw 14 classes hit and sent home for two weeks. However, the rest of the school will remain open, according to directions from Toronto Public Health.
Nadaf is moving forward with it, saying he believes the teachers and staff have done their best to maintain health and safety precautions and protocols.
“What can we do? This is happening all over the world,” he said. “They do their best, but at the same time they can’t completely prevent it.”
Asymptomatic students and staff testing is currently offered in designated schools in the Toronto, Peel and York and Ottawa regions, four Ontario regions with a high number of active COVID-19 cases.
The goal is to improve coronavirus tracking and prevent transmission within schools, as well as inform future public health decisions. While parents and health experts seem to be applauding the pilot, some are also pointing out the shortcomings in the way it is implemented.
Over the weekend, testing also began in Ottawa at the Manordale Public School, part of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. Amber Mammoletti, a one-time teacher who works in two schools this fall, came by on Sunday to take a test with her son, Flynn.
“I think there are people around without realizing they have it – no symptoms – so it’s best to keep everyone safe – get tested if you can and see what happens,” he said.
WATCH | How the tests helped Cornell University become a COVID-19 prevention model:
Earlier in the school year, Cornell University implemented a strategy of regular testing and robust contact tracking on campus. The plan was expensive, but it prevented any major COVID-19 outbreak at the New York institution. 8:19
School boards are working with local public health authorities to determine which schools to target in the next four weeks, but the expectation is that new positives will undoubtedly emerge, TDSB spokesman Ryan Bird said.
“The 19 cases we learned about over the weekend [at Thorncliffe Park PS] as a result of the tests it is a concern, but it is not unexpected, “he said Monday.
“While this information is troubling, it’s really the information our public health officials need to know, because it gives them a better snapshot of how many of those asymptomatic people are COVID positive cases.”
Despite the string of positive cases resulting from this first weekend, Ontario Minister of Education Stephen Lecce reiterated his claim that “99.9% of Ontario students are COVID-free” during a press conference on Monday. afternoon.
Recognizing that “we still have some work to do” in tracking COVID-19 cases in communities, he called the new testing initiative as an extension of existing security measures his ministry had announced.
“The fact that hundreds of children, students and staff have been tested [at Thorncliffe Park PS] in collaboration with the local public health unit I believe underline that the plan in place is … working hard to mitigate any further spread: identify COVID cases, isolate them or move them from the school, so we have no diffusers inside the school. ”
‘Canaries in the Coal Mine’
A targeted school testing campaign – which in most neighborhoods are considered well-known and trusted places – is a welcome tool that adds to the barometer of what’s happening in the communities they are in, said Dr Zain Chagla. , an infectious disease physician and assistant professor at McMaster University in Hamilton.
“Parents who may not be encouraged to go for the test in their local communities will promptly take their children to school, which is a place they know,” she said.
“Things like this will become canaries in the coal mine. You can get a better idea of what is happening in the community by doing these local testing strategies.”
He added the caveat, however, that the type of test used will likely cause more chaos for families and schools.
For the pilot, Ontario uses PCR testing, which detects the genetic material of a virus. While it’s considered the gold standard, it’s also sensitive enough to “pick up children who are contagious, as well as children who were contagious two, four, six weeks ago,” Chagla said.
He suggested they could have chosen rapid antigenic tests, which signal active infections by identifying proteins on the surface of the infectious viral particles.
Rapid antigen tests can offer a more accurate picture of “who is really a threat to the community than who had COVID six weeks ago, where they aren’t really a threat,” Chagla said.
WATCH | Nova Scotia offers rapid COVID-19 tests in Halifax for asymptomatic cases:
Nova Scotia health officials offered a quick COVID-19 test in Halifax to reduce the spread of the virus in the province by capturing asymptomatic cases. 2:01
Although Toronto parent Jessica Lyons welcomes the introduction of the asymptomatic test, she said it comes months late and should be offered more widely.
“This is in dire need,” said the mother of two school-aged children and an Ontario Parent Action Network organizer.
“A lot more testing in schools – to make it accessible, to make it easy for parents, families and students – is really essential. So we support this pilot, of course, but we think it should have come … weeks and weeks ago and needs to be expanded “.
Back in Thorncliffe Park, one of the Toronto communities most affected by COVID-19 this year, the neighborhood’s parents have expressed concern about the new positive cases found through the testing initiative. But they are also adamant about one thing: their schools remain open.
Distance learning last spring was “really hard for the kids. We saw the mental stress on our son and the other kids,” said Osamah Aldhad, father of a second grader who said he really lacked be in school.
“When we were kids, you know, we ran away from school,” Aldhad noted.
“Now they really want to go to school, which is very important to them.”
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