Fifteen Ontario public schools are now closed due to COVID-19 outbreaks
Fifteen of Ontario’s public schools are now closed due to COVID-19 spread – the highest number of school closures seen in the province to date this year, with the number of closures now exceeding what occurred at this point in the 2020 school year.
The Ministry of Education says 170 new cases of COVID-19 were detected in the past 24 hours, including 154 in students, 13 in staff and three in people whose association to school was not disclosed.
Five additional schools closed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of schools closed to 15.
On this date last year, only four of the province’s 4,844 publicly funded schools were closed due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
The school system did not see double-digit school closure numbers in the 2020 school year until Dec. 7 and did not exceed 15 closures until Dec. 14.
Nearly 14 per cent of all Ontario schools are now dealing with at least one active case of COVID-19.
There are now 1,397 active cases in public schools, up more than 22 per cent from one week ago.
The increase in Ontario’s active caseload over the same time period was only 14 per cent, suggesting that schools are increasingly being tied to higher case counts compared to the broader community.
The first few dozen children under the age of 12 received pediatric doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from Tuesday to Wednesday, with more than 90,000 appointments for children booked across Ontario over the next few weeks.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the recent increases in COVID-19 transmission tied to schools is manageable, saying “eight in nine” elementary schools in the province do not have an active case of COVID-19.
“We’re taking nothing for granted, we’ve stepped up the testing by design, we know that winter months can mean higher cases, and we are being very cautious on the way forward,” he said, referring to recent decisions to make in-school assemblies virtual and adjusting high school lunch timing as examples of his prudence.
Schools across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area reported 672 active cases of COVID-19 among students and staff on Wednesday, 20 more than Tuesday and 45 more than one week ago.
At least 128 class cohorts in the GTHA are at home self isolating and three schools – Grenoble Public School in Toronto’s Flemingdon Park area, Micheline-Saint-Cyr Elementary School in Etobicoke, and Nativity of Our Lord Catholic School in Etobicoke – are closed.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
An El Nino-less summer is coming. Here's what that could mean for Canada
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Stamp prices rise for the third time in five years amid financial woes for Canada Post
Canada Post is increasing stamp prices for the third time since 2019, a move the Crown corporation says is a "reality" of its sales-based revenue structure.
NDP calls out Conservatives for effort to squash pharmacare legislation
The federal New Democrats are calling out Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and his party for trying to block the bill that could pave the way for millions of Canadians to access birth control and diabetes coverage.
Winnipeg man admits to killing four women, argues he's not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
Mediterranean staple may lower your risk of death from dementia, study finds
A daily spoonful of olive oil could lower your risk of dying from dementia, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.
Ontario MPP asked again to leave Ontario legislature over keffiyeh, Speaker loosens ban
An Ontario MPP was asked again to leave the Ontario legislature on Monday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that was banned by the Speaker last month due to its political symbolism.
WATCH Avian flu: Risk to humans grows as outbreaks spread, warns expert
H5N1 or avian flu is decimating wildlife around the world and is now spreading among cattle in the United States, sparking concerns about 'pandemic potential' for humans. Now a health expert is urging Canada to scale up surveillance north of the border.
Trudeau Liberals to unveil new bill Monday aimed at countering foreign interference
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc will be tabling legislation on Monday aimed at countering foreign interference in Canada. Federal officials have scheduled a technical briefing on the incoming bill for Monday afternoon.
Human remains were found at a former Hitler base, but decay prevents determining the cause of death
Polish prosecutors have discontinued an investigation into human skeletons found at a site where German dictator Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders spent time during the Second World War because the advanced state of decay made it impossible to determine the cause of death, a spokesman said Monday.