Schools in Ottawa to reopen Monday

Elementary and secondary schools in Ottawa and some surrounding areas will be allowed to reopen their classroomson Monday, the provincial government announced Thursday morning.

School boards within the areas covered by Ottawa Public Health and the Eastern Ontario Health Unitwill be permitted to resume in-person learning on Feb. 1.

Before- and after-school child-care programs will also resume, while emergency child care will end on Friday.

As an additional precaution, the province is now requiring students in grades 1-3 towear masks in the classroom.

Return to school should not depend on vaccination campaign, Etches says

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Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawas medical officer of health, says the citys current COVID-19 case numbers do not warrant school closures and the reopening of schools should not depend on the rollout of the vaccine.

Etches lobbied for reopening

Ottawa's medical officer of health has argued that local schools should have reopened already, pointing to the fact that while there were outbreaksin the fall, there were virtually no closures. Indeed, current COVID-19 levels in Ottawa are lower than they were during the previous peak last Octoberwhen schools remained open.

"I never use the word 'safe,' but what I feel confident about is that we can manage the COVID levels to decrease transmission within schools, just as we did in the fall," Dr. Vera Etches said earlier this week.

• Etches calls on province to reopen Ottawa schools

Etches said keeping schools closed harmsboth children and parents. Both she and Mayor Jim Watsonspoke with Education Minister Stephen Lecce earlier this week to argue the city's case for reopening schools.

"The government agrees with the growing consensus in the medical community that returning students to in-person learning is essential to the wellbeing, development and mental health of children," said Lecce in a statement released Thursday morning. "According to leading medical and scientific experts, including Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, our province's schools are safe places for learning."

Not in the clear yet

While Etches has championed the return to in-class learning, she has also pleaded with parents to carefully screen their children daily for COVID-19 symptoms, and to get them tested ifany are present.

Etches has warned against allowing children to socialize after school, and refersto going to school as children's "essential work."

Although in-person learning resumes Monday, the provincial stay-at-home order remains in place until at least Feb. 9.

"I want to emphasize thatopening schools doesnotmeanwe arein the clearorthat we are ready to ease up on other public health measures andprovincialrestrictions in place," said Etches in a special statement released Thursday.

"Now more than ever, we need to continue to reduce transmission in the community. This includesensuringchildrendo notcome into contactwithother children outside oftheschoolsetting, even for organized activities such as sports,clubs or socializing.Gatherings before and after school, with close contact between students without masks,are akeyblindspot toaddress."

Etches also said that as in-person learning resumes, and children are screened more carefully and sent for testing, the number ofpositive COVID-19 cases among children and teens will likely increasebut should "stabilize once students are back in school and in an environment that has demonstrated the public health measures are successful in preventing further transmission."

As well, health officials may use rapid testingin situations where there area large number ofhigh-risk contacts from a positive case in a school, although more details were not immediately available.