Parents will know Thursday afternoon whether students will head back to in-person learning next week. Premier Doug Ford says the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health will announce his decision this afternoon. The media briefing of Ontario’s health team is at 3:00 pm.
Ford did not give any indication of what that decision is but did say he supports it fully. Ford says when schools broke for the holidays the percent positivity rate among children under the age of 13 was only 3-percent. Ford says that proves the Minister of Education’s Back to School plan was working. He says since Christmas it is now almost 20-percent, meaning one in every five kids tested for the virus in Ontario has COVID-19. He blamed family gatherings for the 116-percent increase.
Ford ended his brief appearance today by saying, “I will never, ever put our kids in jeopardy.”
