The Porcupine Health Unit has declared two school COVID-19 outbreaks.
One is in Timmins at Pope Francis Elementary School and the second is at Iroquois Falls Public School.
“The outbreak at Pope Francis is related to transmission of COVID-19 on school transportation and the outbreak at Iroquois Falls Public School has been declared because there are two confirmed COVID-19 cases in the school which are linked to an exposure at school,” said Dr. Lianne Catton in a news release.
The people are in self-isolation.
Students were not in school last week due to the April break. When school returns Monday, April 19 it will be remotely. The province has not said when in-person learning will return.
"The Porcupine Health Unit (PHU) continues to investigate these outbreaks regardless of the move to online learning for all schools. At this time, individuals identified as high-risk contacts have been advised to self-isolate for 14 days after their last contact with the individuals," reads the news release.
Because of the variants of concern, the health unit strongly recommends all staff and students self-isolate until April 24.
"If self-isolation is not possible, limit your outings to essential purposes such as groceries, medication, and work if you are not able to work remotely," said the health unit.
This is the third outbreak at an Iroquois Falls school this past week.
The others are at St. Anne English Catholic School and Iroquois Falls Secondary School.
There is also an outbreak at Glencore's Kidd Mine in Timmins where three employees are confirmed cases and among staff at Black River-Matheson Township.
Recently, there has been a surge in cases of the virus in the Porcupine Health Unit region. Since Monday, 71 new cases have been confirmed.
Today, three new cases of the virus were reported in the area of Cochrane, Matheson, Iroquois Falls and Smooth Rock Falls.
To date, there have been 478 confirmed cases of the virus in the health unit region. While the health unit announces new cases on the weekend, the number of recoveries and active cases is not updated. As of yesterday, 366 are recovered and 25 people have died.
There are COVID-19 assessment centres in Timmins, Cochrane, Iroquois Falls, Matheson, Kapuskasing, Smooth Rock Falls, Hearst, and Hornepayne, as well as communities on the James Bay coast.
The Porcupine Health Unit COVID-19 information line can be reached at 705-360-4819 or 1-800-461-1818.
People eligible for a vaccine can register for upcoming clinics in the region here. Select pharmacies are also delivering the vaccine. Find a list of those and book an appointment here.
