TORONTO (ANTARA) – Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, will resume face-to-face classes for elementary and high school students in the region on February 16 following a drop in HIV infections. coronavirus, the provincial education ministry said on Wednesday.
Schools in southern Ontario, where most of the population live, remained closed after winter break amid a spike in coronavirus cases, but some began to reopen on Monday.
Most states will reopen schools on February 8 while schools in Toronto, near York and Peel will finally reopen on February 16.
“We have seen a steady decline in community transmission,” said Education Minister Stephen Lecce. “With the full support of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and the unanimous support of all local health care workers, Ontario is ready to reopen our schools because it is safe.
In the Quebec region, elementary and secondary schools have remained widely open despite the province’s curfew to contain the virus.
Ontario announced its decision to reopen schools two days after the province said it had identified the first identified case of the variant coronavirus in South Africa, in a patient with no travel history. The case suggests that the variant, which appears to be more contagious, could spread in this community.
If more infectious variants become common in the province, the spread of COVID-19 could accelerate.
Lecce hinted that schools could close again: “If anything changes, if the trend goes the wrong way, we will not hesitate to act.”
Experts at the institute said last week that modeling and international examples show that it is possible to continue reducing cases while reopening schools, keeping other public health measures in mind. The province’s home support order, which prohibits non-essential activities outside the home, remains in effect.
Source: Reuters
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Translator: Mulyo Sunyoto
Publisher: Atman Ahdiat
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