Positive COVID-19 test at Mary Ward Catholic elementary school in Niagara

An individual at Mary Ward Catholic Elementary School has tested positive for COVID-19,Niagara Catholic District School Board says, and exposed students and staff to the virus.

The board says the individual is in self-isolation, but did not specify if theperson was a student or staff member.

"Mary Ward Catholic Elementary School and Niagara Catholic are working with Niagara Region Public Health and we will fully comply with all requirements," reads a release from Thursday evening.

"Niagara Region Public Health is in the process of contacting all students and staff who had direct contact with this individual this evening."

Anyone who was in contact with the infected individual is asked to stay home.

It's unclear how the person contracted COVID-19, when they contracted it and how many people mayhave been exposed.

There's also no word on when the person was last in school, what kind of symptoms they were and/or are experiencing and when the school received confirmationof thepositive test.

This followsthe president of Niagara Health encouragingpeople to follow public health guidelines afterNiagara saw a dozen new cases of COVID-19 yesterday.

This alsocomes after the first case of COVID-19 associated with the Hamilton school system was announced late Thursday.

On Wednesday, aBrock University student who lives off-campus, and hadn't yetvisited campus this term, tested positive forthe virus.