TORONTO (AP) – All schools in Canada’s most populous province will close and switch to online learning due to a record number of coronavirus infections fueled by more contagious variants, the Prime Minister announced on Monday. ‘Ontario.
Prime Minister Doug Ford said his government would go online just after the April break this week.
Schools in Canada’s largest city, Toronto, had already been closed since last Wednesday. Now it will be all over the province. Toronto and the neighboring Peel region made the decision last week after the province refused to act.
Ontario has now seen more than 4,000 new infections a day in recent days, including 4,401 on Monday, and records the number of intensive care units.
The spring break began Monday after the province postponed it to March to deter travel during the pandemic.
“Returning our children to a congregated environment in schools after a week of rest in the community is a risk I will not take,” Ford said.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the government will rely on the advice of the Ontario health chief medical officer to determine when schools will resume to learn in class.
On Sunday, Lecce said schools would reopen for classroom learning next week. Liberal opposition leader Steven Del Ducca said Lecce should be fired.
Health officials have criticized Ford for not doing more to control infections after months of warnings.
“It simply came to our notice then. Right now we are at a critical juncture. Many of the health indicators continue to outperform the worst case scenario, “Ford said.” I’m very concerned about the new variants. “
Vaccinations have intensified in Canada in recent weeks and all adults who want a vaccine are expected to receive at least one dose in July. Canada has lagged behind in vaccinations because, like many other countries, it does not have the capacity to manufacture vaccines and has had to rely on the global supply chain. While hope is on the way, with more than 45 million doses expected to be available in July for the nation’s 38 million people, cases in Canada are on the rise.
The Ontario Hospital Association said almost all hospitals in the Toronto area would close their pediatric units to help support an increase in COVID-19 cases.
The Toronto head of medical health said the city could see 2,500 new daily cases of COVID-19 by the end of April, even with a stay-at-home order.
“When the hospital for sick children offers ICU care to adults, know that you are living through one of the worst periods of the pandemic,” said Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city’s doctor.
Canada’s head of public health, Dr. Theresa Tam, said there are more than 33,000 confirmed cases involving contagious variants in Canada. Most still include variant B.1.1.7 first detected in the UK. But Tam said there has also been a “worrying increase” in the number of cases of variant P.1, first associated with Brazil, which is especially worrying because it may reduce the effectiveness of vaccines.
The Pacific Coast province of British Columbia began vaccinating all adults in the ski resort town of Whistler on Monday, which has been affected by at least 197 cases of variant P.1.