Ontario pushes back start of school to Jan. 5, cuts isolation period to five days, limits PCR testing
Ontarians who develop COVID-19 symptoms and are vaccinated will have to isolate for five days, as will anyone in the same household, the government announced Thursday.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore also announced that the province's two million students will return to school two days later than scheduled - on Wednesday, Jan. 5 - and all staff will be given N95 masks to wear in class.
The delay to the start of school will give boards time to prepare as the province starts sending out the masks for school and child-care staff along with an extra 3,000 HEPA air filters to classrooms across Ontario. That's in addition to the 70,000 already in place.
PCR and lab-based testing will continue for all students and staff who have COVID-19 symptoms, Moore also announced.
Extracurricular sports, however, will be put on hold as COVID-19 cases continue to hit record highs in the province.
The new isolation rules come on the heels of similar changes in the U.S.
Ontario is also changing the required isolation period based on growing evidence that generally healthy people with COVID-19 are most infectious in the two days before and three days after symptoms develop," the province said in a written release.
Individuals with COVID-19 who are vaccinated, as well as children under 12, will be required to isolate for five days following the onset of symptoms. Their household contacts are also required to isolate with them. These individuals can end isolation after five days if their symptoms are improved for at least 24 hours and all public health and safety measures, such as masking and physical distancing, are followed. Non-household contacts are required to self-monitor for 10 days."
Starting Friday, PCR tests will also be limited to high-risk individuals who are symptomatic and/or are at risk of severe illness from COVID-19, including for the purposes of confirming a COVID-19 diagnosis to begin treatment, and workers and residents in the highest risk settings, as well as vulnerable populations. Members of the general public with mild symptoms are asked not to seek testing."
The government will also add further restrictions on indoor sports and concert venues at 50 per cent capacity or 1,000 people, whichever is less. Theatres - not cinemas - are also included in the changes that come into effect Dec. 31.
Earlier Thursday, the NDP slammed the Ontario government for waiting days before planned return. Parents here should have already been told if their children will return to school given there are just a few days left before classes are to resume after the holiday break, said NDP Education Critic Marit Stiles said.
The former Toronto District School Board trustee said she's hearing from parents who are incredibly frustrated at the lack of communication. It's all we are thinking about as parents" and all that kids are asking about.
Families need to make decisions about work and child care for next week," she said. Employers don't know whether employees will be back at work and education workers need to know what they need to do to be prepared."
The NDP also urged the province to provide free rapid tests to students and staff, hold vaccine clinics in schools, mandate vaccines for school staff and add COVID shots to the list of school vaccines for kids, and provide N95 masks for all staff.
Horwath said there is a reason why Ontario is the province that has had kids out of school the most across the country, and that's on (Premier) Doug Ford."
Meanwhile, the Ontario Families Coalition - a parent group opposed to school closings - has sent an email to supporters saying that even a few days of school closings is not acceptable and it will take legal action if necessary.
Even if it's framed as a delayed reopening, we know from past experience that this could lead to lengthy school closures that harm the mental, academic, social, and physical health of kids," the coalition said. Every day counts for kids, and we will not tolerate ANY delayed start. It's time to hold to account the decision-makers who have repeatedly failed to prioritize kids."
The coalition is asking for donations to file an injunction if in-person classes don't start Monday.
The injunction is a legal remedy that compels someone other than the government (i.e. the courts) to consider the weight of the now comprehensive and indisputable body of evidence demonstrating the harm that is done to kids by ongoing school closures and switch to subpar virtual learning."
Dr. Peter Juni, the scientific director of the province's COVID-19 science table, told the Star Wednesday that shuttering schools should not happen until the government puts other restrictions in place to curb COVID-19, including stronger capacity limits and work-from-home recommendations.
Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Moore have said their priority is to keep schools open.
We know how critical in-person learning is, which is why we have followed the advice of the chief medical officer of health and invested in safer schools, with improved ventilation in every school in this province," said Caitlin Clark, Lecce's director of media relations, on Wednesday.
With the Omicron variant upon us, we are taking nothing for granted as we work with the chief medical officer of health on the way forward to protect in-person learning and keep all students, families, and staff as safe as possible."
Other provinces such as Quebec, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador informed families that school start-up will be delayed because of skyrocketing COVID-19 cases with the more transmissible Omicron variant.
The extra time is provide a buffer between a rise in infections expected because of holiday socializing and the start of classes, and to give staff time to prepare.
In B.C., the government announced Wednesday that children with special needs and those whose parents are essential workers will return as planned on Monday, but all other students will be phased back into class with full attendance by the following Monday, Jan. 10.
Since the pandemic began, Ontario has closed schools and moved kids online for at least 26 weeks - more than any other province.
Because Ontario's case counts are at record high levels, and given families socialized over the holidays potentially leading to more infections, Dr. Anna Banerji believes that keeping kids learning at home for just a week or two might be the answer because it doesn't make a lot of sense to open schools up and then close them down again."
A letter signed by more than 500 Ontario doctors was sent to Premier Doug Ford, Lecce and Moore saying numerous jurisdictions around the globe have made a commitment to keeping schools open, regardless of case counts, and we need to do the same."
They note that while there have been COVID cases in schools, there has been little to no COVID-19 transmission occurring in the school setting" and children appear to contract milder cases.
The Ontario Public School Boards' Association said it hopes for news from the government sooner rather than later, and would prefer a regional approach.
We need to know by the end of the week," said President Cathy Abraham, adding boards support whatever public health units believe to be the safest thing for our staff and students to do."
She also said we recognize the challenges" for students' mental health and well-being when moved to online learning, but we also recognize the challenges of this virus."
Abraham said she'd like the government to provide N95 masks to teachers and staff.
Kristin Rushowy is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @krushowy