COVID-19 Self-Screening

Important Update to COVID-19 School Screening Requirements

This message is to inform you of important changes that he Government of Ontario has made to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in the community. Everyone is required to follow these important directions from Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health.

Changes to the Mandatory COVID-19 Self-Screening

Changes have been made to the mandatory COVID-19 self-screening that must take place every morning before leaving for school. Effective immediately, every student who has one new or worsening symptom of COVID-19 must stay home until:

• They receive a negative COVID-19 test result.
• They receive an alternative diagnosis by a health care professional, or
• It has been 10 days since the start of symptoms, and they are feeling better.

This is a change from the previous requirement to stay home if an individual has two or more symptoms. A list of symptoms has been included at the bottom of this message.

Parents/guardians must check their child(ren) for symptoms of COVID-19 every morning using the Government of Ontario’s easy to use COVID-19 school screening tool at: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/.

If your child does not pass the screening, please ensure that your child does not come to school and follow the directions outlined in the self-screening tool in order to keep everyone safe.

Isolation Requirement for Household Contacts of People with Symptoms of COVID-19

If someone living in your household has symptoms of COVID-19, everyone in the household is required to quarantine (stay at home and not leave the home) until the person with symptoms:

• receives a negative COVID-19 test result, or
• receives an alternative diagnosis by a health care professional.

If the person with symptoms tests positive, or is not tested and does not receive an alternative diagnosis from a health care professional, the person with symptoms must isolate (including from household members) for 10 days from when the symptoms started, and all household contacts must isolate until 14 days from their last contact with the person with symptoms.

Thank You

On behalf of the Pine Pidge Secondary School and the Durham District School Board, we appreciate your cooperation with these updated guidelines meant to keep everyone in our school communities safe. Should you have any questions or concerns, or if your child is required to self-isolate, please do not hesitate to speak to your classroom teacher or the school office if we can be of any assistance.