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Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce has announced that all children in the province will return to class by February 16.
Students in the Toronto, York and Peel area return to school on February 16.
The remaining 13 public health units that have not yet started learning in person will return on February 8th.
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Brant County Health Unit
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Chatham-Kent Public Health
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Department of Health in Durham Region
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Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit
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Public Health in Halton Region
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City of Hamilton Public Health Services
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Huron Perth Public Health
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Lambton Public Health
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Niagara Region Public Health
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Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit
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Region of Waterloo public health and emergency services
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Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health
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Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
“Safety is what will drive our decision and step,” Lecce said. “We will not endanger your child and your family.”
“If things change, and if trends move in the wrong direction, we will not hesitate to act, according to the advice of the medical officer for health.”
This comes after the provincial government announced new measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools, including asymptomatic tests for students and staff, compulsory masking for students in Grade 1 to Grade 3 and outdoor masking required for all grades when physical distance can not be maintained.
In addition, the province has drafted a temporary certification for qualifying teacher candidates that is expected to graduate in 2021 to increase staff in schools.
Although many eagerly awaited this announcement from the provincial government, some turned to social media with more questions and concerns about the timing of the resumption of personal learning about Ontario.
Dr. David Williams, medical chief of health in Ontario, stressed that the province dropped COVID-19 cases on Wednesday to 1,172 new cases, with fewer than 200 cases in Peel and fewer than 500 new cases reported in Toronto. has not been the case since earlier in December.
He added that people in the province should be ‘very careful’ to ensure that COVID-19 does not spread in schools, while dr. Williams also said that evidence from 2020 shows that there was not much transfer in the school.
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