Ontario reports lowest number of new school-related COVID-19 cases in weeks

Ontario reported just 80 new school-related COVID-19 cases on Friday, the lowest daily report in more than a month.

There are currently 1,282 active school-related COVID-19 cases, 1,172 of them among students.

The majority of COVID-19 cases in schools have been among students. Many school-aged children are unable to get vaccinated as it is not yet available to those under the age of 12.

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According to Ontario’s COVID-19 portal, most COVID-19 cases have been in elementary schools where most students are not yet eligible for vaccination. The education sector is responsible for 111 outbreaks in the province, 78 of which are in elementary schools.

Outbreak settings/Government of Ontario

The number of school-related cases has been steadily dropping since October 4 when the province reported a total of 1,637 active COVID-19 cases in schools.

There are now 677 schools in the province with active COVID-19 cases, down from a peak of 819 on September 30.

Since schools have returned, there have been 3,596 school-related COVID-19 cases in the province, 3,179 of those were among students.

This week, Toronto Public Health has dismissed two schools due to COVID-19 outbreaks, making up two-thirds of all the schools closed in the province. Last week, nine schools were closed due to outbreaks. As of Friday, October 15, three schools are closed.

Update on #COVID19 in TO child care & school settings: as of Oct. 14 at 2:00 p.m. there are:
🔎28 active investigations in child care & 117 in schools
🏫2 school dismissal
🧪4 confirmed outbreaks in child care & 17 in schools
➡More info on #COVID19 in TO: https://t.co/SkOS47Xggr pic.twitter.com/HYoWbIhyVl

— Toronto Public Health (@TOPublicHealth) October 15, 2021