2 Brampton high school teachers test positive for COVID-19, 1 for variant 1st detected in U.K.

Two Brampton high school teachers have tested positive for COVID-19 after they exercised together at a school without wearing masks, the local school board and public health unit have confirmed.

One of the teachers has tested positive for the variant first detected in the United Kingdom. Both have gone into isolation.

Bruce Campbell, spokesperson for the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board (DPCDSB), said in an email on Wednesday that the board is investigating.

"I can confirm that the two teachers were exercising together and that, at least for a portion of the time, they were not wearing masks which was, and remains a mandatory requirement of all employees while in Board facilities," Campbell said.

"There was no contact with students."

Campbell said the teachers had been teaching students remotely from the school and are allowed to do so, according to a directive from the provincial education ministry.

According to the ministry, teaching remotely from school is permitted if teachers feel that school resources, including technology supports, provide them with a better teaching environment than if they were teaching remotely from home.

Campbell said the board, however, did not give permission to the teachers to use school gyms and weight rooms for recreational purposes, either during the lockdown or before it began.

The board communicated this expectation to all of its principals in early January, he said.

Campbell declined further comment because he said it is now a personnel matter. He also declined to name the school.

DPCDSB schools are closed, except for in-person special education classes, but are slated to open for general in-person learning on Feb. 16.

Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel Region's medical officer of health, told reporters on Wednesday that Peel Public Health has also investigated.

"I can confirm that we've just concluded an investigation into a situation at a specific high school in Brampton. It's important to note that the school was closed to general in-person learning at the time that the exposure occurred, and from our investigation, we've identified that no one else was exposed and that the outbreak has been declared over," Loh said. 

"The individuals are safely self-isolating, so certainly at least as it pertains to plans to reopen schools next week, that school, for the purpose of our investigation is, at this point in time, not currently in outbreak."