Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce, August 7, 2020. (Photo taken from YouTube.)Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce, August 7, 2020. (Photo taken from YouTube.)
London

Education Minister: extended winter break not necessary

Ontario's education minister is throwing cold water on the idea of an extended winter break for students.

In a statement released on Twitter Wednesday afternoon, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said he doesn't think keeping schools closed for a few weeks in January will be necessary.

"We have consulted with the Chief Medical Officer of Health as well as the Public Health Measures Table and have determined that an extended winter holiday is not necessary at this time, given Ontario's strong safety protocols, low level of transmission and safety within our schools," Lecce said. "As we safeguard the progress we've made in our schools, we will continue to closely monitor all indicators, trends and numbers to protect the safety of our children, their families and all frontline staff in Ontario's schools."

On Tuesday, Premier Doug Ford and Lecce said they were at least considering extending the winter break in an effort to reduce the risk of the spread of the coronavirus after the holidays. Ford told reporters that things are going very well in schools and pointed to the fact that, at the time of his comments, only one school in Ontario has had to close because of the coronavirus. However, cases have been identified at 670 schools in Ontario. That represents 13.88 per cent of all schools in the province.

Ontario reported 1,417 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. It also reported 32 deaths, the highest single-day total since June 6. There are 535 people in Ontario being treated in hospital for COVID-19. Of those, 127 are in intensive care and 78 are on ventilators.

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