Parents in Canada’s largest province will not be notified of a COVID-19 outbreak at their child’s school until there is 30% absenteeism rate among staff and students, officials said Wednesday.
Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce also said students will return to classrooms Monday. The provincial government had said earlier this month that online learning would run until at least Jan. 17 because of a surge in infections with the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Ontario students have spent more time learning online during the pandemic than their peers elsewhere in Canada and the U.S.
A person receives vaccine during a drive through COVID-19 vaccine clinic at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario, on Sunday Jan. 2, 2022. (Lars Hagberg The Canadian Press via AP)
Students and staff in Ontario schools will each eventually get two rapid tests to use if they develop COVID-19 symptoms, but won’t know if large numbers of their peers and colleagues are off sick until a third of the school is absent.
The province's chief medial officer defended the decision by saying the risk of hospitalization is very low for children and less than with previous strains of the coronavirus. Dr. Kieran Moore said officials will release information on hospitalizations.
Opposition New Democrat lawmaker Marit Stiles said parents have a right to know about outbreaks in classes as they try to evaluate the risks.
“It shouldn’t be easier to find out if there is a lice outbreak in your school than a COVID outbreak,” Stiles said.
The provincial government is also providing N95 masks to teachers and staff and surgical masks to students.