{"id":75704,"date":"2022-01-04T16:39:39","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T21:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=75704"},"modified":"2022-01-04T16:39:39","modified_gmt":"2022-01-04T21:39:39","slug":"ottawa-schools-will-remain-closed-following-the-winter-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/ottawa-schools-will-remain-closed-following-the-winter-break\/","title":{"rendered":"Ottawa schools will remain closed following the winter break"},"content":{"rendered":"

All public and private schools in Ontario will remain closed to in-person learning until the end of January.<\/span><\/p>\n

The announcement came from Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Monday, following a special statement from <\/span>Ottawa\u2019s Medical Officer of Health, Vera Etches, in a press release on Sunday<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In response to a <\/span>letter from the Ontario Secondary School Teachers\u2019 Federation<\/span><\/a> (OSSTF) citing concerns regarding the reopening of schools, Etches lent her support to students and parents hoping to send their children back to class following the holidays.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am writing to you today to acknowledge the many questions and concerns about the return to school planned for many next week,\u201d says Etches. \u201cWhile I am expecting further guidance from the province about school reopening and measures to limit transmission in the community, I am currently in support of schools returning. I have evaluated the evidence and recommendations from my healthcare colleagues that being in school is what is best for children, youth, families and the health of our community overall.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In a press release published last month, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) announced that due to the high rate of Omicron transmission across the city and within schools, the return to in-person learning would be delayed by two days until Jan. 5.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs the number of COVID cases increases, many families are asking about the possibility of a shift to remote learning in the new year. We have not been advised of any change and are preparing for a return to in-person learning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On Monday, Ford confirmed that schools would remain closed to in-person learning following the break, beginning at midnight on Jan. 5 and lasting until at least Jan. 26.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very different problem than we faced in the past, when COVID hospital stays were weeks long in intensive care units,\u201d says Ford. \u201cBut even so, with Omicron surging across Ontario at [the] current rate\u2026 modeling tells us we could be thousands of beds short in the coming weeks. We can't let that happen. This data is a clear call to further action.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ford says the new measures are a precaution put in place to protect hospitals and healthcare workers from being overwhelmed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since arriving in Ottawa in late November, the Omicron variant has quickly spread across the province. According to Ottawa Public Health (OPH), Ottawa\u2019s current 7-day-average of new confirmed cases was over 960 as of Monday, adding over <\/span>6,400 new cases and two deaths<\/span><\/a> over the week prior.<\/span><\/p>\n

As of Monday, there were <\/span>27 ongoing outbreaks<\/span><\/a> connected to schools and childcare facilities in Ottawa.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to keeping schools closed, the province is implementing more restrictions on indoor and outdoor gatherings, reducing capacity limits for businesses, and pausing all non-essential surgeries and medical procedures.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beginning Wednesday, indoor gatherings will be limited to five people, and outdoor gatherings to 10. Social events held indoors, such as weddings, funerals, and religious services, rites, and ceremonies are limited to 50 per cent capacity, while events held outdoors are limited to as many people as can reasonably attend while distancing by two metres.<\/span><\/p>\n

Retail stores are limited to 50 per cent capacity, while establishments such as bars and restaurants will be closed to indoor service but continue to allow outdoor and drive-through service with some restrictions.<\/span><\/p>\n

For a full list of the new restrictions, visit <\/span>Ottawa Public Health<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Listen to the CHUO News update below:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All public and private schools in Ontario will remain closed to in-person learning until the end of January. The announcement came from Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Monday, following a special statement from Ottawa\u2019s Medical Officer of Health, Vera Etches, in a press release on Sunday. In response to a letter from the Ontario Secondary…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":75708,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[218,221,223],"tags":[11714,284,8644,11713,5378,11303,3561,5870,11710,6969,7794,11711,11712,11270],"radio":[1290],"origine":[267,269,1571],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75704"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75704"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=75704"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=75704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}