Queen's University cancels in-person exams due to COVID-19 concerns

Queen's University in Kingston, Ont. is cancelling all in-person exams this month as COVID-19 cases rise within the student community and health officials warn about transmission of the Omicron variant of concern in the city.

In a statement late Sunday evening, Queen's announced it was "discontinuing in-person" exams effective immediately, with exams moving to an "alternative delivery format."

The university said it made the decision in consultation with the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Public Health.

"All remaining in-person exams scheduled for the remainder of the examination period to Dec. 22, will be changed to an alternative delivery format wherever possible. Should an alternative delivery not be possible, then exams will be rescheduled in the new year," said Queen's University.

"Students will be contacted by their faculty or school with further details."

Online exams will proceed as scheduled.

A student launched a petition last week calling on Queen's University to move exams online due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in Kingston.

Queen's University confirmed an outbreak within the student community last week. On Friday, Queen's reported 135 new cases of COVID-19 within the student community in a week.

Starting on Monday, both the Library and the Athletics and Recreations Centre at Queen's University will implement reduced capacity limits.

The Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Health Unit does not report COVID-19 cases on weekends. Public Health Ontario reported 121 cases on Sunday and 129 cases on Saturday in the Kingston region.

Last week, health officials announced a case of the Omicron variant in Kingston not linked to travel.  The health unit confirmed to CTV News Ottawa on Friday that there are 105 suspected cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant of concern in the region, with the samples sent for genome sequencing to confirm.

"Due to the prevalence of the Omicron variant in the Kingston region, KFL&A Public Health strongly encourages all students to get tested for COVID-19 before leaving the KFL&A region for the winter break," said Queen's University.

Once students planning to leave Kingston for the winter break have received a negative COVID-19 test and are not high-risk contacts, Queen's says you should "depart as soon as possible."

NEW SELF-ISOLATION GUIDELINES FOR VACCINATED RESIDENTS IN KINGSTON

On Friday, Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Public Health announced enhanced case and contact requirements for all positive COVID-19 cases "to address the confirmation of the Omicron variant and record high COVID-19 case counts" in the region.

The new requirements are:

• All close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases must self-isolate for 10 days from the date of their last exposure to an individual with COVID-19, regardless of their vaccination status or previous positive result.
• Regardless of a negative PCR test result, close contacts are still required to self-isolate for 10 days from their last date of exposure.
• Seek PCR testing on or after day 7 as a clearance test, regardless of symptoms. If you do not complete a day 7 testing, you are required to self-isolate for an additional 10 days, or until receiving a negative test result.
• If a close (high-risk) contact of a person positive with COVID-19 is unvaccinated, their household members (regardless of immunization status) must also isolate until the close contact has a negative PCR test on day 7.
• If new symptoms occur, seek additional PCR testing immediately.

SCHOOLS PIVOTING TO REMOTE LEARNING

Parents at seven schools in the Limestone District School Board received an email from the board last night regarding a pivot to remote learning on Monday because of a lack of staff.

"New COVID-19 guidelines implemented by KFL&A Public Health given the presence of the Omicron variant in the region have impacted Limestone's ability to effectively staff some schools for in-person learning and to ensure a safe learning environment," the board said in a tweet Monday morning.

"We sincerely apologize for these circumstances and recognize the challenges this presents to many families. However, we cannot operate classes effectively or safely for in-person learning if we have insufficient staffing in place."