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The health and safety of our students, faculty and staff is paramount. Due to the ongoing situation with COVID-19, we’ve implemented numerous safety measures in the school to help prevent the potential transmission of the virus. These include:

  • reduced class sizes and/or increased studio space to allow for physical distancing
  • designated studio working areas to promote physical distancing
  • the mandatory use of face masks when in the school
  • the availability of hand sanitizer and the promotion of its use
  • increased cleaning and disinfecting procedures throughout the school – all studios are disinfected between sessions
  • contact tracing protocols
  • staff and faculty screening for temperature and symptoms
  • encouraging students to bring their own tools

If a staff member or program participant begins to experience symptoms of COVID-19 while attending a program at the school, DVSA staff will ensure:

  • Symptomatic program participants are immediately asked to go home OR will be separated from others in a supervised area until they can go home.
  • We will contact the Hamilton Public Health unit to notify them of a potential case and seek advice regarding the information that should be shared with other participants in the program.
  • Environmental cleaning/disinfection of the space and any items used will be conducted once the participant has departed/been picked up. Items that cannot cleaned and disinfected (e.g., paper, books, etc.) will be removed from the area.
  • Other participants and staff who were present while a program participant or staff member became ill will be identified as a close contact and grouped together until they leave or can be picked up by parents/guardians to self-isolate at home. The local public health unit will provide any further direction on testing and isolation of these close contacts.

Program participants who have been exposed to someone with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 in the last 14 days will not be allowed access to the school.

Testing for COVID-19:

  • All symptomatic staff and program participants will be referred for testing.
  • Those who test negative for COVID-19 will be excluded from the program until 24 hours after symptom resolution. If a symptomatic person receives a negative result, a repeat test within 24-48 hours can be considered if clinical suspicion is high.
  • Those who test positive for COVID-19 must be excluded from the program for 14 days after the onset of symptoms and clearance has been received from the local public health unit.
  •  DVSA will consider a single, symptomatic, laboratory confirmed case of COVID- 19 in a staff member or program participant as a confirmed COVID-19 outbreak in consultation with the local public health unit.
  •  If there is a confirmed positive case of COVID-19 at the school, the facility will remain closed for 48 hours to facilitate a deep cleaning of the building. We will immediately contact Hamilton Public Health and let them guide the process of implementing next-step procedures and communications.
  •  Staff members and program participants awaiting test results will be excluded from DVSA programs of any nature (classes, workshops, fundraisers, etc.).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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