COVID-19 cases in schools and child-care centres are declining
Nearly half of all active COVID-19 infections in the province now involve students and staff at public schools and child-care centres, despite a steady reduction in the total number of cases linked to those settings.
According to the latest data, there are now 1,187 known active cases of COVID-19 associated with public schools and another 162 cases associated with child-care centres.
The two settings currently account for 44.2 per cent of all active COVID-19 cases in Ontario. That is up from 39.9 per cent of active cases at this time last week and 34.8 of all active cases two weeks ago.
The good news is that the number of infections tied to classrooms and childcare centres does seem to be declining, even as the settings continue to make up an increasingly larger share of Ontario’s overall case counts.
The latest data reported by the Ministry of Education on Tuesday suggests that there were 150 new school-related cases confirmed over a three-day period ending on Monday afternoon. That is down from 173 cases over the same time period last week. There were also another 13 cases confirmed in child-care centres, down from 19 cases at this time last week.
As a result, the total number of active cases associated with Ontario’s public schools and child-care centres now stands at 1,349, down from a peak of nearly 2,000 earlier this month but virtually unchanged from this time last week.
The latest data comes as many school-aged children prepare for Halloween this weekend. Last year public health officials urged Greater Toronto Area children not to trick or treat due to the COVID-19 pandemic but that advice has been set aside for this weekend amid radically improved public health indicators.
“Be careful but things are better enough this year that we can have kids going out,” Toronto Mayor John Tory told CP24 on Tuesday. “I think it just has to be common sense and caution on the count of parents because the kids don’t know what is different about Halloween this year compared to precious years. So perhaps leave the candy outside so you don’t have to have as much human interaction there are certainly ways to avoid crowding on doorsteps.”
There are currently only two Ontario schools that have been ordered to close due to COVID-19 outbreaks, though at least 126 individual classrooms in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area are self isolating due to a positive case.
There are also seven child-care centres that have been required to close due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
Meanwhile, the total number of school-related cases reported since the beginning of September currently stands at 4,287.
At this point in 2020 there had only been a total of 1,770 school-related cases but that was before the second wave of the pandemic drove a rapid rise in case counts in the broader community.
Toronto Public Health says that there are currently five active outbreaks in schools and one active outbreak in childcare centres. There are eight active outbreaks in workplace settings.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.