COVID-19 causes two week school closure extension

DAN CEARNS The Standard

KAWARTHA/NORTH DURHAM: Publicly funded elementary and secondary schools in Ontario will close for an extra two weeks following the March Break due to COVID-19. The decision was made by provincial government officials, on Thursday, March 12th, and was based on advice from Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health. “This means Ontario schools have been ordered to remain closed from March 14th through to April 5th, 2020. We recognize the significant impact this decision will have on families, students, schools, as well as the broader community, but this precaution is necessary to keep people safe. Today’s steps build on a number of actions our government has taken in recent days to respond to COVID-19, including moving forward with additional public health measures, which include enhanced access to screening, expanding lab-testing capacity, and implementing new initiatives to keep the public and frontline workers safe. We are further setting aside up to $100 million in contingency funding in the upcoming 2020 budget to address challenges related to COVID-19,” read a joint statement from Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Health Christine Elliott and Minister of Education Stephen Lecce. The statement went on to try to assure people the “COVID-19 Command Table is prepared to respond quickly and effectively to any scenario and provide the government with advice on measures to keep the public and frontline workers safe.”