The Grey Bruce Public Health Unit is clarifying the rules for sick school children.
In a release Wednesday, the health Unit reported that if if a child becomes sick, the provincial Return to School protocols are being supplemented by the Grey Bruce Health Unit.
In every case, a sick child cleared to go to school must pass the COVID-19 school and child care daily screening.
In the first scenario, a child will be permitted to return to school if the child had only one symptom that has resolved and the child was symptom-free for 24 hours. The only point where there is a difference between the Grey Bruce guidelines and the provincial Return to School protocol is that the local direction in Grey and Bruce requires the symptoms must be resolved during the 24 hour observation period before the child returns to school whereas the provincial protocol allows for return to school if symptoms are improving.
Also, a child can return to school if they had a negative COVID-19 test after starting to feel sick and their symptoms have improved for 24 hours
However, a child not tested for COVID-19 test must complete 14 days of self-isolation from the date when the child started to feel sick and symptoms have improved for 24 hours.
And in another scenario, the child was seen by a doctor or nurse practitioner during the time since being sent home from school and that another medical reason, other than COVID-19, explains why the child was feeling sick.
Siblings of the child who is not well can continue to attend school as long as they are not showing any Covid-19 symptoms and have not been informed by Public Health to remain at home due to being a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case.
“The 24 hour observation period was designed to verify if a symptoms persist, so we don’t send a child for testing for one cough. However, if the symptom persisted for 24 hours, even though improving, it is still a symptom that needs to be addressed through testing or isolation," said Dr. Ian Arra, Grey Bruce Medical Officer of Health. “Allowing a child to go back with improving symptom in this context defeat the purpose of the observation period.”