Information for Parents & Caregivers

As of April 19, 2021, the provincial government is directing all public and privately funded schools to shift to online learning. This is being done to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 throughout the province.

During this time, it is important to continue to follow public health advice: 

  1. Monitor for symptoms daily. Household members of a person with symptoms must stay home.
    Parents and other adults, must stay home from work. No one should leave the house, unless for medical needs, like COVID-19 testing or to see a doctor.
  2. Wash your hands and high-touch surfaces regularly.
  3. Wear a facemask or face covering in public.
  4. Keep 2 metres of physical distance between others when in public.
  5. Follow the guidelines for our region [1] to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Masking tips for children that are sensitive to touch:

  • Use a soft fabric mask
  • Find a mask that ties around the head, or use a clip to tie the ear loops behind the head

Download Masking Poster [2]

Information for children with symptoms of COVID-19

One of the most important ways to stop the spread of the virus is to make sure that people stay home if they are sick.

Supporting a Student with Symptoms

View the flowchart below on what to do if a child has symptom of COVID-19

What to do if Your Child has Symptoms

ENG [3]
FRE [4]
ARA [5]
SOM [6]
SPA [7]

Managing COVID-19 cases in schools

If a student becomes ill during the day while at school, the student will be isolated, and should be picked up as soon as possible by a parent or caregiver.

If there is a COVID-19 case in a school, an investigation will occur to determine who else needs to be isolated. Parents of students identified as high-risk close contacts will receive a letter of notification with additional instructions to follow. 

***Please note that only the people identified as a close contact will receive notification from the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit***

If your child is identified as a high-risk close contact, they will be asked to self-isolate. This means that your child cannot attend school, work, and extracurricular or social activities until they are cleared by the public health unit. A Public Health Nurse will stay in contact with you to monitor when it is safe to return to school and their other activities.

If your child is not symptomatic

If your child is symptomatic

Other members of your household not identified as a high-risk close contact should stay home, but can leave the house for essential reasons.

Example of essential reasons:
Going to school/work/childcare, getting groceries, going to a medical appointment, or picking up prescriptions).

Other members of your household must self-isolate until your child receives a negative test or gets an alternative diagnosis by a health care provider.

Learn more:

Information on ‘Variant of Concerns’

A ‘variant’ is when the virus has changed or mutated. Some variants of the virus can become a concern for public health when the mutation or change makes it harder to stop the spread. For example, a variant of concern (VOC) can:

  • Spread more easily
  • Cause more severe symptoms
  • Make it harder to diagnose
  • Affect the effectiveness of the vaccine

Public health is monitoring variant strains of COVID-19 and ensuring safety recommendations are followed in order to stop the spread of the virus.

The public health response to stop the spread of COVID-19 remains the same even for variant cases. Physical distancing, proper and frequent handwashing, wearing PPE, and staying home when ill remain important safety measures to stop the spread of the virus. For VOCs, we need to be more careful and diligent in enforcing these practices.

If there is a COVID-19 Variant of Concern (VOC) case in a school, an investigation will occur immediately to determine who else needs to be isolated (i.e., high-risk close contact). Parents of students identified as high-risk close contacts will receive a letter of notification with additional instructions to follow. 

***Please note that only the people identified as a close contact will receive notification from the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit***

Information on Voluntary Asymptomatic Testing

Voluntary asymptomatic testing is available to individuals with no symptoms of COVID-19 or no known exposure to someone with COVID-19. This is different from the testing available at local COVID-19 assessment centres, where testing is generally reserved for people with symptoms and/or people who have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19.

Testing students and staff that are asymptomatic (i.e., have no symptoms) is part of the Ministry of Education’s [12] plan to keep schools and childcare settings safe.

Check with your school board to learn about their plans for asymptomatic testing, and which schools will be offering the test.

Testing is free of charge, voluntary, and will require consent from parents/guardians.

Needing to isolate after getting tested as part of the asymptomatic testing depends on whether or not symptoms develop.

If the student stays asymptomatic

If the student develops symptoms

If your child and everyone in the household have no symptoms, you can keep going to school and work, and following public health guidelines [13].
  • If your child or someone in the household has a symptom, everyone must self-isolate and the ill person should get tested for COVID-19
  • No one should leave the house, unless for medical needs, like COVID-19 testing or to see a doctor.

 

**If the test comes back positive, your child and the rest of your household must isolate immediately**

Learn more about how to check your results online [14], and what to do after you get your results. [15]

Other Helpful Resources

Looking for more resources? Access our Return to School Resources page [19]

Related Content: 

Healthy Schools [20]
Last modified: 
Wednesday, April 14, 2021 - 11:59am
Source URL (modified on 2021-04-14 11:59): https://www.wechu.org/cv/information-parents-caregivers

Links
[1] https://www.wechu.org/cv/local-pandemic-status
[2] https://www.wechu.org/sites/default/files/edit-resource/em-safe-return-school-resources/srtschoolmaskdosanddontssign.pdf
[3] https://www.wechu.org/sites/default/files/edit-resource/em-healthy-schools-resources/protocol-what-do-if-child-has-symptomseng.pdf
[4] https://www.wechu.org/sites/default/files/edit-resource/em-healthy-schools-resources/protocol-what-do-if-child-has-symptomsfre.pdf
[5] https://www.wechu.org/sites/default/files/edit-resource/em-healthy-schools-resources/protocol-what-do-if-child-has-symptomsara.pdf
[6] https://www.wechu.org/sites/default/files/edit-resource/em-healthy-schools-resources/protocol-what-do-if-child-has-symptomssom.pdf
[7] https://www.wechu.org/sites/default/files/edit-resource/em-healthy-schools-resources/protocol-what-do-if-child-has-symptomsspa.pdf
[8] https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/ncov/factsheet-covid-19-how-to-self-isolate.pdf?la%3Den
[9] https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/ncov/factsheet-covid-19-how-to-self-isolate.pdf?la=fr
[10] https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/ncov/factsheet-covid-19-guide-isolation-caregivers.pdf?la=en
[11] https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/ncov/factsheet-covid-19-guide-isolation-caregivers.pdf?la=fr
[12] https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-asymptomatic-targeted-testing-schools
[13] https://wechu.org/cv/local-pandemic-status
[14] https://covid19results.ehealthontario.ca:4443/agree
[15] https://wechu.org/cv/have-covid-19-or-been-exposed#positive
[16] https://smho-smso.ca/covid-19/parents-and-families/
[17] https://www.wechu.org/cv/where-access-help-resources
[18] https://www.wechu.org/cv/reducing-stigma-discrimination
[19] https://www.wechu.org/cv/return-school-resources
[20] https://www.wechu.org/tags/healthy-schools

© Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, 2021. All Rights Reserved.

1005 Ouellette Avenue, Windsor, Ontario N9A 4J8 - 519-258-2146