Outbreak Declared at East Northumberland Secondary School in Brighton

Pete Fisher
4 years ago
• Categories: Local

Students, staff and families of ENSS in Brighton received a notice this afternoon (December 1, 2020).

COVID-19 Outbreak Now Declared At ENSS in Brighton
December 1, 2020
Dear East Northumberland Secondary School students, staff and families,
We are providing this update to share that we have a second confirmed case of COVID-19 at East Northumberland Secondary School. That individual will remain at home until the Health Unit advises they may return to school. The identity of the individual is protected by privacy legislation and cannot be shared.

As a result of the investigation by the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge (HKPR) District Health Unit, the HKPR District Health Unit has declared an outbreak at ENSS. The term ‘outbreak’ is used provincially by public health units when they believe there is evidence that at least one person could have reasonably acquired their infection within the school.

We appreciate that this news may be concerning for our students, staff and parents. We want to assure you that we continue to work closely with the HKPR Health Unit to respond to this issue, and we continue to follow all public health and provincial guidelines to protect student and staff safety.

In terms of our school operations, we are sharing the following information:

Our school remains OPEN.

A small number of students are being dismissed at this time. HKPR believes they have identified and contacted all close contacts related to the confirmed cases at our school and continue to have daily follow-up.

HKPR will be providing us with some short-term directions regarding further limiting student and staff contacts and limiting visitors.

Signs will be posted on school doors identifying the current outbreak status.

We continue to implement our enhanced daily pandemic cleaning protocols, and regular disinfection of our school with the electro-static sprayer.

At this time, the HKPR District Health Unit would like to remind members of the ENSS school community (and all members of our community) to limit contact with others and remain only in close contact with household members.

All students and staff are asked to continue to self-monitor for signs and symptoms of COVID-19; this includes completing the daily self-assessment.

If you or your child develop one or more of these symptoms, please immediately self-isolate at home, and seek testing. Please keep your child or yourself at home even if symptoms seem mild, like a common cold. As always, please remember to inform us if your child will be absent from school.

To protect yourselves, your children and the community, the HKPR District Health Unit recommends that you physically distance from others as much as possible; stay home when sick; wear a mask when indoors, on a bus, or whenever you cannot maintain a two metre distance; clean hands often with soap and water or hand sanitizer; cough and sneeze into your sleeve; avoid touching your face; avoiding sharing personal items with others; and avoid close contact with anyone who is ill.

We continue to follow all public health recommendations to help protect student and staff safety and we will let families know of any further developments. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,
Karin Mackenzie-Russell
Principal