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Ontario isolation, school dismissal rules now depend on vaccination status

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Isolation rules for Ontarians considered close contacts of someone who has COVID-19 now vary depending on vaccination status, including in schools, where cases are expected to pop up this fall. 

New guidance from the province issued Wednesday said fully vaccinated individuals in contact with positive cases don't have to isolate unless they develop symptoms or are directed to do so by public health. That also applies to those who've tested positive for the virus within the last 90 days. 

In guidance specifically for schools, the province said fully immunized close contacts of positive or likely cases don’t have to be dismissed from classes unless they have symptoms.

Those showing COVID-19 symptoms will be directed to isolate and get tested, but their return-to-class date will depend on their vaccination status.

"We are taking a balanced and cautious approach in order to ensure schools remain open for in-person learning for the full school year," said a spokeswoman for Health Minister Christine.

The new rules come as the scientific director of the province's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table said a new wave of infections had begun in Ontario, with heightened risk for those who aren't vaccinated. 

"We are most definitely in a fourth wave," Dr. Peter Juni said as Ontario logged 324 new infections Wednesday after successive days of case growth. The majority of the new infections were in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people. 

Juni said the new guidance reflects the greater risk of infection for unvaccinated individuals, who are eight times more likely to get COVID-19 if exposed to the virus.

In schools, symptomatic vaccinated individuals who test negative can return to school if their symptoms improve over 24 hours, or after 48 hours if they had gastrointestinal symptoms. 

Unvaccinated, high-risk contacts of positive or likely cases need to isolate for 10 days and it's recommended they take a COVID-19 test seven days into their isolation. For school settings, the isolation period is counted from the last known date of exposure to the case, or last date of exposure to the cohort if the exact date isn't known.

There are some exceptional situations in which asymptomatic, vaccinated contacts of positive or likely cases may be dismissed from school. For example, if a cohort is largely not immunized or their vaccination status isn't known, the province said dismissing the whole group can be considered.

School-wide testing is recommended if several cohorts are infected, if five to 10 per cent of staff and students have COVID-19 over two weeks, or as part of investigations to assess risk, among other possible scenarios.

Household members of those who are close contacts of positive cases have to abide by similar rules, dependent on vaccination status and symptoms, the province said. 

Public health units have been directed to investigate possible sources of infection when cases are detected in school settings. 

Children under 12 aren't currently eligible to receive any of the COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in Canada.

Juni said the fact that young children can't be vaccinated needs to be factored into further reopening plans, as the effects of "long COVID" in kids aren't yet known and some regions in the U.S. experiencing Delta-variant-driven surges are also seeing more hospital admissions among children.

With public health restrictions now looser in Ontario than at any point since in pandemic, Juni said unvaccinated people have about a 90 per cent likelihood of becoming infected over the next year. 

He argued that further reopening of the province ahead of the school year should only happen with measures like vaccine certificates – which restrict access to some high-risk activities – in place to control the spread of the virus. 

"We need to discuss any potential for reopening against the backdrop of the exponential growth we're already in," he said. 

Ontario is currently in Step 3 of its reopening plan, which allows most businesses to reopen, but with capacity restrictions and other rules. There are also crowd limits on social gatherings and other events. 

Groups representing health-care workers and businesses have called for vaccine certificates to help weather the current wave of cases. 

But Premier Doug Ford has remained steadfastly opposed to such a system. He is also opposed to mandatory vaccinations for health-care and education workers, which a growing number of groups are calling for. 

Eighty-two per cent of adults in Ontario have one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 73 per cent are fully vaccinated.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 11, 2021. 

Holly McKenzie-Sutter, The Canadian Press


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