The return to in-person learning on January 17th will happen with stronger protections in place.
That from Education Minister Stephen Lecce today who says students and staff in the Province’s child care settings and schools will each get two rapid antigen tests when in-person learning returns this coming Monday.
“Staff and students will receive two tests each as initial supply with over 3.9 million rapid tests shipped to schools as we speak ready for January 17th,” he said.
Lecce says the tests are for use when symptomatic at school. The tests will be distributed to staff first next week, then to children in daycares followed by students in elementary schools, then on to high school students.
Those with symptoms are told to use the two tests 24 to 48 hours apart – they will be able to return to school after negative results and symptoms improve.
If a school reaches 30 percent absenteeism, a joint letter from the school and the local health unit will be sent to the school’s community.
Enhanced ventilation and high-quality PPE at learning facilities are also part of the plan (more below).
School-based vaccination clinics will also be made available for students ages 5-11 which will happen before, during, or after school with parental consent.
In the coming days, parents will receive a form offering the opportunity to safely and conveniently provide public health units the authority to vaccinate their children at a school-based vaccine clinic.
Additional measures in place to prepare for the return to in-person learning include the following:
- High-Quality Masks: Providing access to more than 10 million non-fit-tested N95 masks to all education and child care staff – the only province to do so – with more than four million three-ply cloth masks for students recently shipped for use in schools.
- Improved Ventilation: Deploying an additional 3,000 standalone HEPA filter units to learning environments, building on the ventilation improvement measures already in place at every school across Ontario, including the more than 70,000 HEPA filter units and other ventilation devices that have been provided and mechanical ventilation upgrades.
- Stricter Screening: Updated and stricter screening requirements for students and staff, including daily onsite confirmation of screening.
- Historic Funding: School board access to $1.6 billion in resources to protect against COVID-19, including supports for mental health, technology, over 2,350 additional staff and ventilation.
- Access to Additional Educators: Access to retired educators for a longer period of time following a recent agreement with the Ontario Teachers’ Federation, and access to first year teacher candidates who are deemed eligible.
- Enhanced Cohorting and Cleaning: New time-limited cohorting protocols to limit direct and indirect contacts by pausing high-contact extra curricular sports, stricter lunch cohort requirements, and elevated cleaning requirements at all schools.
With these measures in place, including new testing options and expanded access to vaccination, and continuous improvement to ventilation, the Ontario government is supporting access to in-person learning with greater stability for students and families. Remote learning will remain an option for those families wishing to access it.
“In-person learning is critical to the mental health and well-being of our children and youth,” says Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kieran Moore. “In light of the unique challenges posed by the Omicron variant, my team and I will continue to work with the education sector to review all of our guidelines and all environmental, health, cleaning, and ventilation standards to ensure our schools remain as safe as possible for all.”
Lecce says the measures announced today will help limit the spread of COVID-19 in Ontario’s learning environments.