1/ This is the @ottawahealth (OPH) decision-guide for #COVID contact tracing in #Ottawa schools

It must change NOW.

Principals can tell kids with sniffles to isolate for 14 days, but the guide doesn& #39;t let them tell a class when a student tests +ve unless OPH approves it

2/ In practice this meant the principal of @MutchmorPS allowed my son& #39;s class to continue for TWO DAYS this week even though the parents of a child at the school told her directly their kid had tested positive.

And that& #39;s what @ottawahealth says was SUPPOSED to do

3/ The students and staff from the class are all now self isolating. But in those two days between the +ve test and the isolation orders we all could have been spreading COVID to our neighbours, family, and friends creating more cases and possibly fatalities.

4/ Insisting on single point of control makes a mockery of every #Ottawa family that& #39;s kept a kid with a runny nose or headache home to isolate

What& #39;s the point of stopping potential cases when schools are told to ignore real ones until @ottawahealth says to act days later?

5/ I am calling on @ocdsb, city ( @VeraEtches, @JimWatsonOttawa, @ShawnMenard1) and provincial ( @fordnation, @celliottability, @JoelHardenONDP) officials to fix this NOW.

We must empower our school officials to advise families to isolate when they get credible information.

6/ Otherwise we will be fighting this pandemic with one hand tied behind our backs, with more concern about following protocol then actually protecting kids and stopping COVID.