More Ontario students head back to school for in-person learning

Another batch of Ontario’s students will be back in class for in-person learning on Monday.

Elementary and secondary schools in the following 13 Public Health Units (PHUs) – will make the return to physical classrooms:

• Brant County Health Unit
• Chatham-Kent Public Health
• Durham Region Health Department
• Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit
• Halton Region Public Health
• City of Hamilton Public Health Services
• Huron Perth Public Health
• Lambton Public Health
• Niagara Region Public Health
• Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit
• Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services
• Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health
• Windsor-Essex County Health Unit

 

In Toronto, Peel and York Region, schools will remain closed until after Family Day and return for in-person learning on Feb. 16.

For first time since December school buses are back on roads as in-class learning resumes in areas like Oakville that are outside of Covid-19 hot spots. Students in Toronto/Peel/York regions do not resume in-class learning until after Family Day long weekend. pic.twitter.com/6LqwvYJkg3

— carl hanstke (@carlCityNews) February 8, 2021

Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced it is introducing new measures to continue to protect students and staff against COVID-19 in the classroom, including, but not limited to province-wide access, in consultation with the local PHU, to targeted asymptomatic testing for students and staff, as well as mandatory masking requirement for students in Grades 1-3 and masking requirement for Grades 1-12 outdoors where physical distancing cannot be maintained.

All students in Ontario began January with online learning as part of a provincial lockdown.

The province then took a staggered approach to reopening schools, allowing those in northern Ontario and rural areas to resume in-person learning first.

Last week, around 280,000 students returned to class across various public health units, including the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, Middlesex-London Health Unit, Southwestern Public Health, and Ottawa Public Health.

Dr. Eileen de Villa said that Toronto Public Health is looking at further enhancements that could be put in place to create an even higher standard of safety before schools reopen.

This announcement also comes as experts call for aggressive COVID-19 testing in schools if those in Ontario’s hotspots are to open safely again.

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With files from the Canadian Press