What do those school absentee numbers mean? Daily updates don’t specifically mention COVID

With the Ontario government providing daily updates on absenteeism numbers in the province’s schools and reporting any school closures during the current wave of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, what should parents and students read into those rates and what should they do?

How much of the absenteeism is related to COVID-19/Omicron?

The daily absenteeism rates can be found on a government website.

COVID-19 caution reminders are issued by Algoma Public Health (APH) if absenteeism reaches 30 per cent within an individual school. 

“Regardless of whether the illness is from a cold, or influenza, or COVID-19, or croup, or whooping cough, the important actions remain the same. Anyone with symptoms should stay home,” said Kristy Harper, Algoma Public Health (APH) community wellness and school health manager in an email.

“In settings where we see higher than normal absenteeism which may be due to illness, it is more important than ever to honestly screen for symptoms every day before leaving home, stay physically distanced from others, keep masks on and wear them properly so that they cover the nose, mouth, and chin without gaps, and wash hands thoroughly and often. All these actions can help stop the spread of a number of respiratory infections, whether it's COVID-19 or the flu.”

“Parents and guardians of children play an important role in controlling the spread of COVID-19 in schools, which in turn helps prevent the disruption of in-person learning,” Harper said.

Apart from getting vaccinated, isolating immediately if anyone in a household has symptoms of COVID-19, staying home and following public health guidance on isolation if you have any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 and self-monitoring, parents are urged by APH to screen their children using the COVID-19 school and child care screening instructions which are found online.

“Currently, the direction from the Ministry is to report all absences, regardless of the reason. Once the percentage of absenteeism hits 30 per cent, contact with the local health unit is made. There is often communication between the health unit, the principal or the COVID lead to share contextual information. The health unit then sends communication to the principal to share with their school community. Currently we have school closures posted on our website (if any occur), but are waiting further direction from the Ministry on whether or not to include daily absenteeism,” said Christine Durocher, Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board (H-SCDSB) superintendent of education.

“On our website we’ve been asked to report school closures. That information can be found under our Covid 19 Advisory section. To date, no school closures for Algoma District School Board (ADSB),” said Fran Walsh, ADSB spokesperson.

“The great news is our kids are back in school,” said Dr. Jennifer Loo, APH medical officer of health and CEO.

“At this time because of the high amount of community transmission we are monitoring absenteeism very closely and working with our school boards and school principals to see whenever there is a school that has an absenteeism rate that is 30 per cent over what their normal baseline is, that we take note of that and send a letter to all of the parents and members of the school community, letting them know to take extra caution and be very meticulous about daily screening, not going to school with any symptoms and making sure their mask is on at all times.”

Loo told SooToday that APH will be looking for any additional numbers the province will be monitoring “over the next couple of weeks to see if any relaxation of measures in the community might also lead to similar changes within the school setting.”

Meanwhile, activities such as contact sports and playing of wind instruments are still prohibited in schools in keeping with APH advice.

“We are still in a heightened state of caution and watching very closely,” Loo said.

With files from Kenneth Armstrong, SooToday