It's "absolutely critical" for students to return to in-person learning, says Porcupine Health Unit medical officer of health Dr. Lianne Catton.
"School is the best place for our children and youth to be,” she said today during a virtual COVID-19 update.
Evidence to date, said Catton, shows that layering public health measures makes a difference and that there has been minimal spread of the virus in local schools.
“We’re going to see cases as we’re seeing them in workplaces, as we’re seeing them in hospitals, as we’re seeing them in longterm care. We’re in a pandemic. The important thing is the vast majority of cases that we see in school often are not from school exposure at all, they’re actually from the community. And so the spread that we’ve seen locally within the schools has been quite minimal,” she said.
One of the measures that work is wearing three-layered masks properly, she said. The screening tool has also been updated with more specific questions.
Students and staff will have limited access to take-home PCR tests when schools return. New guidance says the kits will be made available to those who become symptomatic while at school.
While students were originally scheduled to return to classrooms Jan. 5, the province postponed in-person learning until at least Jan. 17. The government has indicated that elementary and high school students will be back in the class on Monday.
Tomorrow, Minister of Education Stephen Lecce and Ontario chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore are slated to talk about work being done to return to in-person learning.
Catton said the impacts of not having in-person learning have been tremendous.
"As a sector, public health has been very strong and very confident and consistent in our messaging that schools should always be the first to open and the last to close and I definitely support that,” she said.
