COVID-19 case confirmed at Brampton high school

Someone who spent time at a Brampton high school last week has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the school's principal.

In a note to the school's staff and families sent on Sunday, Louise Arbour Secondary School principal Sharron Kuhl said that someone who had been at the school on Sept. 10 had tested positive for the virus.

In accordance with the rules laid out by the province to deal with a positive case in a school, their identity is protected.

"The school has already been cleaned on Sept. 10 and 11 as part of our regular cleaning protocol. An additional cleaning will take place today," Kuhl wrote. "The building will be safe and open for students and staff Monday. "

The building is indeed now open, with groups of high school students heading back to class in two cohorts this week. Students had already been at the school last week over several daysfor orientation sessions.

"Thankfully, the risk to others who were at the school on that day is low because of our physical distancing and mask rules," wrote Kuhl.

"Peel Public Health is investigating. It is important to share that the person got the virus in the community, not at our school."

10,000make last-minute switch to online learning

Concern was mounting among Peel Region students and parents long before the Louise Arbour case was announced.

This weekend, the Peel District School Board (PDSB) announced it was delaying the start ofonline classes as more and more students switched away from in-person learning.

10,000 more Peel students decided to register for online learning last week alone, bringing the total number of students signed up to 64,000.

Live online classes are now set to start early next week for both elementary and secondary students.

"These are truly unprecedented times, and we appreciate your patience and understanding," wrote the board in a letter about the delay.

Big week at GTA schools

Monday marks the first day back in physical classrooms since March for some GTA students, including at the PDSB, York Region District School Board and at the Toronto Catholic District School Board.

You can read our full guide to school start dates here.

Unlike most Ontario students, who went back to class last week, the GTA's boards have had slower returns and some delays.

Back to school is also coincidingwith increasing daily COVID-19 case counts in the province with the average number of new daily COVID-19 infectionsdoubling in the space of three weeks.

204 cases were reported on Sunday. According to the provincial health minister, nearly two-thirds of new cases are among Ontarians under 40.

Last Monday, the province announced a four-week pause on any further relaxing of pandemic restrictions.