Sean G McKinsley, Managing Partner, Canada Immigration and Visa Services shares Breaking News on Canada’s plans to re-open during COVID-19 Cornavirus.
Source: CTV News
Quebec elementary schools, daycares to reopen starting May 11; high schools to stay closed until fall
Schools and daycares outside the Montreal region will open on May 11; elementary schools in the Montreal region will follow suit eight days later, opening on May 19.
Class sizes will be limited to 15 students in order to make it easier to respect social distancing directives in schools, Legault said.
High schools, CEGEPS and universities in the province will not reopen until September, Legault said, noting that older students use public transit more frequently and could contribute to overcrowding on buses and metros.
Legault reiterated that parents can choose whether or not to send their children back to schools when they are open.
Children with health problems, or whose parents have health problems, should stay home, Legault said.
At a later press conference in Quebec City, Education Minister Jean-Francois Roberge said that the province would also be providing new and improved online learning options for students who do not return to schools when they reopen.
Virtual learning will also resume or continue for CEGEP and university students until they can physically return to their institutions in the fall, Roberge said.
Roberge urged all students with learning difficulties to return to class when their schools reopen, if their health permits.
While it’s up to parents to decide whether or not to have their children go back to school, Roberge asked parents to inform their children’s school of their intentions a week before the school’s reopening date.
‘A roadmap, not a calendar’: Ontario announces three-stage plan for reopening economy
In stage one, ‘select workplaces’ that can immediately modify their operations to meet physical-distancing requirements will be allowed to open
Source: National Post
The Ontario government has released a three-stage plan for reopening the economy, but details are still vague about which businesses will be able to open and when.
The document, called “A Framework for Reopening our Province,” outlines the principles that will be used in reopening decisions and says each stage will last two to four weeks, depending on its success in preventing new outbreaks. There are no dates attached to the stages, and businesses are only described in general terms. The document does not say which stage would include schools and daycares reopening.
“It’s a roadmap, it’s not a calendar,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said.
“The framework is about how we’re reopening, not when we’re reopening. Let me be crystal clear: As long as this virus remains a threat to Ontario, we will continue to take every precaution necessary.”
He said Ontario is currently at the peak of COVID-19 cases, according to health officials, but it’s not clear how long the peak will last.
In stage one of the reopening plan, “select workplaces” that can immediately modify their operations to meet physical-distancing requirements, such as using curb-side pickup or delivery, will be allowed to open. Some outdoor spaces such as parks will be opened, and a greater number of people will be allowed to attend events such as funerals. Hospitals will start rescheduling some surgeries and other postponed medical services.
Stage two will see more workplaces allowed to open, including some service industries as well as retail and office workplaces. More outdoor spaces will open and larger public gatherings will be allowed.
In stage three, all workplaces will be reopened and restrictions on public gatherings will be relaxed further. However, large gatherings such as concerts and sporting events will “continue to be restricted for the foreseeable future,” the document says.
In each stage, emphasis is placed on “continued protections for vulnerable populations and the continued practice of physical distancing, hand washing and respiratory hygiene, and significant mitigation plans to limit health risks.”
After all three stages are complete, Ontario will enter a phase called “Recovery,” where the government will work with businesses to guide the economy to a full recovery.
In deciding how to proceed through the stages, the government will look at four key categories.
The first category, “virus spread and containment,” will look for a consistent two-to-four week decrease in the number of new COVID-19 cases, a decrease in the rate of cases that cannot be traced to a source, and a decrease in new cases in hospitals.
The second is “health system capacity,” which involves ensuring there are enough personal protective equipment (masks, gloves, etc.), and critical care beds and ventilators, to handle any surges in COVID-19 cases.
The third, “public health system capacity,” focuses on having enough public health officials to do effective contact tracing of new cases — to the point where 90 per cent of a new case’s recent contacts can be reached within one day.
Finally, “incidence tracking capacity” will ensure that any new outbreaks are detected quickly. This depends on maintaining high testing rates as well as a “shift to new and other ways of testing and contact tracing to promote widespread tracking of cases.” The document does not elaborate on what these new methods might be, but making use of cell phone location data is the type of thing that officials are already considering.
Leave A Comment