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5 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,January 13,2022 insidehalton.com For a Free consultation call oakville: 905.842.2022 ToronTo: 416.644.3999 Denied Disabled Benefits? I canhelp. My teamof experienced lawyers can help youwith: •Disability Claims Short-TermDisability, long-TermDisability, CPP •Car accidents •Slip and Falls •Wrongful Dismissal Injured? I don't get paid unless I getYoumoneY. oFFiCeS in oakville and ToronTo eMail: sspadafora@slspc.ca Disability and EmploymEnt law Disability Founded in 1991 Peter Watson MBA, CFP®, R.F.P., CIM®, FCSI Jennifer Watson MBA, CFP®, CIM® Accepting new clients. Please visit www.watsoninvestments.com to book a free consultation. Offering safe virtual meetings and e-signatures for new client onboarding. "Our clients enjoy talking about their retirement dreams and we enjoy helping them get there." Peter & Jennifer info@watsoninvestments.com (905) 842 -2100 If you are sick, stay home. That's the bottom line for students and staff of the Halton District School Board, as the rapid spread of the Omicron variant wreaks havoc with previ- ous provincial testing pro- tocols. The sheer volume of cases across the province, and lack of timely access to PCR testing at community assessment centres, has re- sulted in revised Ministry of Health case and contact management procedures, as outlined to board trust- ees at the Jan. 5 meeting. Confirmation of the vi- rus no longer requires PCR testing through an assess- ment centre; diagnoses are now presumptive based on the onset of symptoms or a positive test result from a self-administered PCR or Rapid Antigen test (RAT). If you have one of the fol- lowing symptoms -- fever/ chills, cough, shortness of breath or decrease/loss of smell and taste -- or two or more of these symptoms -- sore throat, extreme fa- tigue, muscle aches/joint pain, headache, runny nose/nasal congestion or vomiting or diarrhea -- you are presumed to have COVID. Isolation measures have also changed. "We'll help families navi- gate this because we've had different changes through- out the past couple of years in terms of what does it mean for someone that has COVID? What are the im- plications for family mem- bers?" said Terri Blackwell, superintendent of educa- tion. Public health messag- ing requires anyone who is sick to stay home along with their household mem- bers, however, isolation pe- riods have been reduced, said Blackwell. Those 12 years of age and older who are fully vac- cinated or those 11 years old and younger, regardless of vaccination status, must isolate for a minimum of five days from the onset of symptoms, and until symp- toms have been improving for 24 hours (or 48 hours for gastrointestinal symp- toms), whichever is longer in duration. Those 12 and older, and either partially vaccinated or unvaccinated, or those who are immune compro- mised regardless of their age, must isolate for 10 days from the onset of symp- toms. Isolation requirements are not solely for the indi- vidual with COVID, but the entire family, said Black- well. Those in isolation with access to testing must have two consecutive negative RAT tests (24-48 hours apart) and symptoms must be improving for 24 hours (or 48 for GI symptoms), be- fore the isolation period for the suspected case and household members can end, according to board in- formation. Similarly, for those iso- lating, one negative PCR test with symptoms that are improving over 24 hours (or 48 hours for GI symptoms) will allow the suspected case and house- hold members to end their period of isolation. This also means that the board, as well as the Minis- try of Education, will no longer be recording CO- VID-19 case numbers in schools and "letters that previously came home will not be coming home." New reporting process- es for school boards will be forthcoming from the min- istry, according to Black- well. "We will be reporting back when we hear from the ministry in terms of what the new communica- tion looks like because we know that our families want to be informed as do our staff," said Blackwell. Board staff will also now have access to non-fit-test- ed N95 masks and students, 3-ply non-medical masks. The board's inability to confirm and post case num- bers is of great concern to parents, said Burlington trustee Andrea Grebenc. "I lay this right at the feet of the province because they have let us get to this point where we are now fly- ing blind, absolutely blind. We have no accurate case counts out there at all and it is frustrating as a trustee. I feel for the community," said Grebenc. The province was warned in mid-December by its own science table about the colossal surge in numbers expected with the arrival of the Omicron vari- ant "and ignored it," said Grebenc. PRESUMPTIVE TESTING FOR STUDENTS, STAFF NOW THE NORM New guidelines for school boards are in place in the face of unrelenting Omicron cases. Graham Paine/Metroland KATHY YANCHUS kyanchus@metroland.com NEWS