reopening

Friday June 4, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday June 4, 2021

Ontario won’t reopen schools for in-person learning this spring, Ford announces

Ontario students won’t return to in-class learning before September, Premier Doug Ford announced at a news conference Wednesday.

May 27, 2021

“It was a hard choice to make,” Ford said.

“I don’t want to risk the health of our kids and cutting off their summer.”

On Monday, Ford said his government was reviewing responses to a letter sent last Thursday that solicited advice on reopening schools from a range of expert groups including public health officials and teachers’ unions.

At Wednesday’s news conference, Ford said some experts believed students should be back in class, but they could not promise that kids being back in schools wouldn’t lead to thousands of new COVID-19 cases, especially when variants of concern are considered.

In a news release, the province said recent modelling from the Science Advisory Table showed that if Ontario reopened schools to in-person learning, the province could see an increase in the number of new daily COVID-19 cases by six to 11 per cent.

October 14, 2020

That same modelling also predicted a spike in cases could occur if Ontario starts reopening the province before mid-June — something Ford said Wednesday he is now proposing.

“By remaining cautious and vigilant, we protect our summer. We protect September,” Education Minister Stephen Lecce said.

The province says schools will continue to remain open until the end of June for special education students who cannot be accommodated through remote learning.

May 29, 2020

Most students in Ontario have been learning remotely since April 19 due to soaring rates of COVID-19 amid the third wave of the pandemic.

Ford said the province is pushing for a “safe and normal” return to school in September. “We’ll use this time to get our teachers and students vaccinated,” the premier said.

The province will also be making upgrades to air systems in schools, Ford said.

Critics slammed the province’s decision Wednesday. During question period, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath pointed out that Ontario is the only province in Canada without kids in class.

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“And there’s a reason for that. It’s not an accident,” she said. “This government walked us right into the third wave, ignoring the advice of experts.

“Kids in the classroom were supposed to come first. That was what was supposed to be the priority.”

Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), said in a statement that Ford’s government has failed to manage the pandemic by ignoring stakeholders, including recommendations from the science table.

“This advice included repeated calls for smaller class sizes, improved ventilation, and adequate personal protective equipment for educators,” Hammond said.

Young Doug Ford: The Series

“Under false pretenses, Minister Lecce spent nine months insisting schools were safe, without any evidence to confirm this. This government’s utter disregard for the safety of students, educators and other education workers cannot be ignored.”

In a statement, the Children’s Health Coalition, which includes organizations such as SickKids and McMaster Children’s Hospital, said it is “deeply disappointed” that Ontario hasn’t acted upon a “broad consensus for a regional reopening of in-person learning” reached by experts in public health and teachers’ organizations alike. (CBC) 

 

Thursday May 27, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 27, 2021

Ford solicits advice on reopening Ontario schools

Premier Doug Ford took the unusual step of publicly soliciting advice from medical experts, children’s hospitals and health organizations on how Ontario could go about reopening schools before the end of the academic year next month.

April 8, 2021

In a letter addressed to 55 different groups and people, Ford reiterated that his government has struggled to find consensus on school reopenings, and that it needs input before moving forward with a decision.

Why Ford waited until May 27, and gave the recipients until 5 p.m. Friday to answer, is unclear.

“In recent weeks, there has been a wide range of advice and commentary around the reopening of schools in Ontario,” Ford said in the letter.

“There is consensus in some quarters on how, when and whether schools should reopen, and diverse and conflicting views in others.”

November 12, 2020

He added that new modelling expected in the coming days will show that, if schools were to reopen, there could be between 2,000 and 4,000 more cases of COVID-19 by the end of July compared to if they remain closed.

Ford went on to once again express his concerns about virus variants of concern, particularly the variant first identified in India, and its impact on children. He also pointed to emerging evidence that suggests COVID-19 vaccines are potentially less effective against the variant found in India.

According to Ford, only 41 per cent of teachers and education workers have received a first dose of vaccine, compared to about 62 per cent of Ontario adults in the general population.

August 6, 2020

“Ultimately, this is our government’s decision, but in light of the foregoing, and the diversity of perspectives on the safety of reopening schools, I am asking for your views on a number of issues,” Ford said.

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Earlier this week, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health — who is also listed as a recipient of Ford’s letter — said he would like to see students back in class before the province begins its formal reopening process in mid-June.

Dr. David Williams said most public health units in the province support the reopening of schools, which have been shut to in-person learning since early April.

“My position has been always like our public health measures table and our medical officers of health, that feel that schools should be the last to close and the first to open,” Williams told a news conference on Tuesday. It was the same day that a group of researchers studying how the pandemic has affected children warned of a “generational catastrophe.” (CBC) 

 

Friday May 21, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday May 21, 2021

Golf, tennis, other outdoor sports to open across Ontario as part of 3-step reopening plan

May 18, 2021

Golf, tennis, basketball and other outdoor sports are set to reopen across the province on Saturday as part of a three-step plan aimed at gradually allowing for more indoor and outdoor activities to resume by the end of summer. 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced details on Thursday as Ontario continues to see signs that point to the devastating third wave of COVID-19 in the province receding. 

Under the new plan, restrictions will be eased gradually through June, July and August based on vaccination rates and key public health and health-care indicators.  

The current stay-at-home order will remain in place until June 2, with the exception of these newly announced changes to some outdoor activities. 

Ford said the changes are the result of current restrictions.

“These measures have worked,” he said. “We are seeing increasingly positive trends in key public health indicators.”

The three phases of the province’s plan are: 

November 12, 2020

Phase 1: An initial focus on resuming outdoor activities with smaller crowds where the risk of transmission is lower. This includes allowing outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people, outdoor dining with up to four people per table and non-essential retail at 15 per cent capacity. 

Phase 2: Further expanding outdoor activities and resuming limited indoor services with small numbers of people. This includes outdoor gatherings of up to 25 people, outdoor sports and leagues, personal care services as well as indoor religious services, rites or ceremony gatherings at 15 per cent capacity. All indoor gatherings in this phase will require face coverings. 

Phase 3: Expanding access to indoor settings, with restrictions, including where there are large numbers of people and where face coverings can’t always be worn. This includes indoor sports and recreational fitness, indoor dining, museums, art galleries, libraries, casinos and bingo halls, with capacity limits. (CBC) 

 

Friday March 12, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday March 12, 2021

Summer Dreaming

New variants of the coronavirus are spreading rapidly in Ontario and unless they are better controlled, the province risks facing a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, an expert panel advising the province’s government said on Thursday.

February 17, 2021

It warned that the next few weeks are critical as the progress made in bringing the coronavirus under control in the province has stalled.

“Variants of concern continue to spread across Ontario. Our ability to control the rate of spread will determine whether we return to normal or face a third wave of infection,” the panel said in briefing material.

While mutations in viruses are inevitable, strains identified as “variants of concern” have worrisome changes that may give the virus advantages, increasing transmissibility or reducing the effectiveness of vaccines, according to the briefing materials released by the province’s science advisory and modeling consensus tables.

Graphs published online ahead of the briefing showed cases of the new variants in Ontario have jumped from below 5 per 100,000 residents each week in early February to nearly 20 per 100,000 residents each week in early March.

That increase has been balanced to some extent by a decline in cases of earlier variants of the virus. (Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-canada-ontario/coronavirus-variants-could-cause-third-wave-in-ontario-expert-panel-idUSKBN2B32WV

April 18 2020

Meanwhile, as vaccine rollout continues to ramp up in Canada and the United States, some American politicians are calling on the Biden administration to reopen the Canada-U.S. land border by this summer.

In a letter addressed to U.S. President Joe Biden, Rep. Brian Higgins of New York asked that Biden work with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for “a partial re-opening of the Northern Border by Memorial Day of this year with a full re-opening by July 4.”

Higgins, who also chairs the congressional Northern Border Caucus, wrote that the current border restriction between the two countries “tears at the fabric of our community and is a critical problem for individuals, families, and businesses.” (CTV) 

 

Wednesday September 30, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 30, 2020

It’s time to consider shutting down casinos, theatres and malls, leading health expert says

As COVID-19 cases continue to pile up, a leading health expert says the Ontario government should consider shutting down casinos, movie theatres and shopping malls. Industry defenders, meanwhile, say closures would be unnecessary and unfair.

July 17, 2020

“Closing them completely should be a last resort. But I think we need to consider everything right now. How surgical can we afford to be?” said Dr. Abdu Sharkawy, an infectious disease specialist with the University Health Network.

Tuesday, Ontario had 554 new COVID-19 cases, down from a record-setting 700 the day before. But Sharkawy warns we haven’t come close to the peak of the second wave.

“I have no doubt that we’ll be seeing a thousand cases per day within the next two to three weeks,” said Sharkawy, who was surprised to see some Ontario casinos reopen on Monday for the first time since March. Casinos had been allowed to open since the province hit Stage 3 in mid-July, but casino operators had been negotiating unsuccessfully with the province to boost a 50-customer cap.

June 17, 2020

Those casinos are all managed by Great Canadian Gaming Co., which runs 11 casinos in Ontario, including at Woodbine and Mohawk.

Shutting casinos down wouldn’t be fair to the industry’s 17,000 workers in Ontario, said Paul Burns, president and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, the casino industry’s national trade association.

A spokesperson for the provincial ministry of health said the government is still monitoring the COVID situation across Ontario, and could implement further restrictions.

“The government, in consultation with public health experts, continues to review trends from a range of criteria on an ongoing basis to determine if public health measures need to be adjusted or tightened,” said Anna Miller. 

Allowing just 50 customers into a casino that’s designed for thousands isn’t a money-maker, said Burns. Not that it’s being done for charitable purposes, he admitted.

“They wanted to demonstrate to public health officials that they could open and operate in a safe manner. It’s not economically viable at 50 people,” said Burns. Eventually, Burns said the casino industry would like to see more gamblers coming through the doors. (The Hamilton Spectator)