As Ontario prepares for what Premier Ford called a “tsunami” of new COVID-19 cases, the government has announced students will return to online learning and there are more province-wide restrictions coming.
Premier Doug Ford announced the province will return to “modified Step 2” restrictions, which include reducing social gathering limits, closing indoor dining, and reducing capacity in retail settings.
All publicly funded and private schools will move to remote learning starting January 5 until at least January 17.
“As cases continue to rise at a rapid rate and evidence on the Omicron variant evolves, additional time-limited measures are needed to help limit transmission as Team Ontario continues to get booster doses into arms,” said Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Christine Elliott. “While this was not an easy decision, these measures will help preserve hospital bed capacity and prevent our hospitals from becoming overwhelmed.”
The province is preparing for hundreds of thousands of new cases each day and it’s estimated about one per cent of those could end up being admitted to hospital.
-more to come-
