Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press
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TORONTO — Ontario’s chief medical officer of health has asked schools that want to delay the removal of mandatory masks and other remaining health measures to comply with the date set by the government.
Mandatory mask-wearing is set to end in most settings next Monday in Ontario. But a number of school boards had asked for permission to keep mask-wearing in schools a bit longer. The case was then made for low vaccination rates among children aged five to 11, and the need to prevent outbreaks of COVID-19 when spring break returned next Monday.
Premier Doug Ford said earlier this month that school boards must comply with guidelines issued by Chief Medical Officer Dr Kieran Moore.
And in a letter sent Thursday, Dr. Moore reminded school boards that had requested a stay that masks would no longer be mandatory in schools on Monday.
“With Omicron’s peak behind us, Ontario was able to carefully and gradually move through its stages of reopening,” Moore wrote in the letter, which was shared online by the Toronto District School Board.
“As we continue down this path, we are able to take a more balanced, longer-term approach to the province’s response to the pandemic, including in Ontario schools, by removing many of the emergency measures that have been put in place over the past two years.”
A request for a stay had been made by the Toronto District School Board, the Toronto Catholic School Board and the Waterloo Region Public School Board, among others. The Hamilton-Wentworth School Board also said its administrators had passed a motion to extend this health measure until April 1.
All the same “highly recommended”
The Toronto District School Board, the province’s largest, however, says that starting next week, mask-wearing will be “strongly encouraged” in its schools, although it will no longer be mandatory under regulations. government guidelines.
The council also recalls that masks will always be available, on request, for staff and students, and that “the environments will be inclusive for all”, masked or not. “We recognize that adjusting to this new reality will take time and that not everyone will have the same level of comfort when the measures are lifted,” the council said in a statement.
“It’s normal to feel anxious over the coming weeks, and it’s also normal to be excited and hopeful. Do what makes you comfortable during this (transitional) time and respect the individual choices of others.”
Other public health measures applied in schools and daycares, such as class bubbles and distancing, must also be lifted Monday in Ontario. Staff vaccination policies had already been scrapped for school boards across the province earlier this month.
Experts advising the Ontario government on COVID-19 and a coalition of children’s hospitals have called for masks to remain mandatory longer in schools.
Some private schools, which have business or not-for-profit status, independent of the Ministry of Education, choose to maintain the mask for the time being. Some post-secondary institutions are also extending mandatory mask wearing until the end of the winter semester.
The City of Toronto also announced that the mask will continue to be worn by staff at city-run child care centers when interacting with children, families and other staff.
Balance sheets in constant decline
Ontario reported 615 hospitalizations related to COVID-19 on Friday, as well as 193 patients in intensive care. These are slight decreases of 29 hospitalizations and six patients in intensive care since the previous day.
There were also eight new deaths from COVID-19.
Provincial data shows 2,502 new infections, but the chief medical officer warns the true number is likely higher as access to PCR testing is restricted.
About 7% of long-term care homes in the province were reporting active outbreaks of COVID-19.
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