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York Region moves to provincial school screening tool on Oct. 18

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 18, 2021

Effective Monday, Oct. 18, York Region Public Health will require students, parents and guardians to use the provincial COVID-19 school and child care screening tool.

The change in screening tool will provide York Region parents and guardians with more options to screen and share results electronically and the ability to complete screening in multiple languages.

The provincial screening tool was updated earlier this month to reiterate the need to stay home if you are sick with any COVID-19 symptoms, including mild symptoms like a runny nose and sore throat. This change mirrors York Region's school and child care screening requirements.

Students, parents and guardians are reminded screening must be completed daily before school and child care. A direct link to the screening tool is available at york.ca/safeatschool.

The symptoms listed on the provincial COVID-19 school and child care screening tool include the most common symptoms of COVID-19:

If you or your child have one of these symptoms you must follow the instructions on the screening tool before returning to school or child care.

Other less common symptoms of COVID-19 include sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, abdominal pain, headache, pink eye, or lack of appetite. If you have one of these less-common symptoms, you must stay home from school and child care until symptoms are improving for 24 hours, but you do not need a negative COVID-19 test, alternative medical diagnosis, or isolation for 10 days from symptom onset before returning to school or child care.

If a student, staff or visitor has any  symptom of COVID-19 listed on the provincial screening tool (with the exception of a headache or extreme body fatigue or body aches due to vaccination in the last 48 hours), they must stay home and get tested for COVID-19 at an Assessment Centre. All unvaccinated or partially vaccinated household members must stay home until the symptomatic person tests negative, only leaving for urgent medical care.

If your child is not fully vaccinated and has travelled outside of Canada, they must stay home from school and child care until the 14-day isolation period has finished.

York Region Public Health has specific instructions for children living in the same household to further reduce the chance of transmission within schools and child care centres. This means:

• If your unvaccinated child is identified as a close contact and is required to isolate (e.g. exposure in a classroom cohort), unvaccinated children living at the same address must NOT attend school or child care for the duration of the contact's isolation period. Fully vaccinated children living at the same address can continue to attend school as long as they do not have symptoms listed on the screening tool.

• If your fully vaccinated child is identified as a close contact (e.g., exposure in a classroom cohort), they are not required to isolate and can return to school if they do not have any symptoms of COVID-19. All children living at the same address can continue attending school or child care as long as they do not have symptoms listed on the screening tool.

Anyone who is experiencing or experienced symptoms, including those who are fully vaccinated with two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, should follow public health's self-isolation and testing guidance.

Keeping COVID-19 transmission low in the community is important to help prevent the introduction of the virus into schools and child care centres. We continue to encourage everyone who is eligible to get fully vaccinated with two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you are eligible. Vaccines are safe, effective and the best way to protect you and those around you from serious illnesses.

For general information about COVID-19 including symptoms, location of Assessment Centres in York Region and other resources, please visit york.ca/covid19 or call Access York at 1-877-464-9675.