Ottawa public school board launches voluntary COVID-19 case reporting system

The Ottawa Carleton District School Board sign is seen in this undated file image. (Colton Praill/CTV News Ottawa)

Parents, guardians and teachers can now voluntarily report COVID-19 cases at Ottawa's public schools.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board has created a Voluntary COVID-19 Reporting Dashboard to provide school communities with information on confirmed cases of COVID-19.

If a student or staff member receives a positive COVID-19 result from a rapid antigen test or PCR test, they can complete the voluntary reporting form on the OCDSB website.

Cases will be posted to the COVID-19 Reporting Dashboard.

The dashboard includes school, grade level and specific class information for elementary students. For secondary students, the dashboard will provide school and grade level information only.

The Ontario government suspended reporting of COVID-19 cases in classes and schools over the holidays. The provincial guidelines stated principals would only notify the health unit of a potential outbreak when 30 per cent of students and staff are absent.

As of Monday, all school boards in Ontario report school absences, tracking how many students and staff are physically present in a school on a given day.

Both the Ottawa Catholic School Board and the Conseil des Ecoles Catholiques du Centre-Est plan to continuing notifying parents, guardians and teaches of COVID-19 cases voluntarily reported to each school.