The region’s top doctor said she would not hesitate to close schools if she thought the benefits of that action outweighed the cost of kids learning in person.
Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, medical officer of health for Public Health Sudbury & Districts, said her commitment has always been to have schools be the last to close and the first to open, and work is being done around the clock to protect the ability of kids to have in-person learning.
“I ask myself this question absolutely every day, and it’s not, ‘Oh no, we’re never going to close schools,’ but it’s all about keeping an eye on how the system is doing, how we’re able to respond to and manage cases,” said Sutcliffe.
“We still have the public health capacity to follow up on school cases, on dismissed classes, as well as outbreaks. The last number of cases we have been seeing in schools are cases that have been contained, have been within families that are self-isolating, so that’s really good news.”
It’s an ongoing review, and the public health team has to take every factor into consideration, she said.
According to information listed on all four school board websites, as of Wednesday morning, there were 51 active cases in 18 of our area schools. Six schools are currently closed. Six schools are currently listed as active outbreaks.
The closed schools include: Lo-Ellen, Algonquin, Jean Hanson, College Notre Dame, Alliance St. Joseph and Walden P.S. There are active outbreaks at Holy Trinity, Alliance St. Joseph, College Notre Dame, Jean Hanson, Algonquin and Lo-Ellen.
There are 117 schools located in our region, which includes Sudbury, Espanola and Manitoulin.
