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home / 世界杯决赛2022

children and staff at schools and daycares to be given two rapid covid-19 tests each

both education minister stephen lecce and ontario chief medical officer of health dr. kieran moore emphasized wednesday the importance of getting kids back in class for their mental health and development.

by jacquie miller

jan 13 2022
read time 3 minute read
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students and staff in child-care centres and schools will be given two rapid antigen tests each to use if they have symptoms of covid-19, ontario education minister stephen lecce announced wednesday.
the news arrives days before two million elementary and secondary students return to in-person classes on monday amid controversy over whether schools will be safe enough.
the rapid tests will be delivered over the next two weeks, with secondary students receiving them last as supplies become available, lecce said.
the province is also expecting more shipments of tests from the federal government.
the government is shifting to the use of rapid tests at schools and daycares rather than pcr tests, ontario chief medical officer of health dr. kieran moore said.
the province has restricted the use of pcr tests, which are processed in laboratories, to the highest-risk people and settings, such as long-term care homes and hospitals.
moore emphasized that rapid tests would be empowering because they could be done at home and produce results in a few minutes.
a positive rapid test is confirmation that a person has covid-19. however, two negative rapid tests taken 24 to 48 hours apart are required to allow a person with symptoms to leave isolation and go back to school or daycare.
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both lecce and moore emphasized the importance of getting kids back in class for their mental health and development, a sentiment echoed by ottawa medical officer of health dr. vera etches at another media conference wednesday.
students shifted to online learning for two weeks after the holiday break, when ontario was hit with a surge of omicron cases.
etches said every family must make the decision that would be best for them about returning to in-person classes.
she again urged families to get their children vaccinated and, in order to prioritize keeping schools open, limit social and extracurricular activities.
more details also emerged wednesday about how covid-19 would be tracked at ontario schools.
the province and school boards will no longer report on cases, nor will families be notified if someone in their child’s class or cohort tests positive.
instead, schools will monitor attendance of students and staff to gauge the prevalence of covid-19. if absences rise 30 per cent above normal, the principal must notify local public health authorities, government officials said during a technical briefing. parents would also be notified.
lecce, when asked what had changed to make schools safe enough to reopen, said the delay allowed time for clinics to be held for educators to get booster shots, rapid tests to arrive from the federal government and n95 masks for staff to be shipped to schools.
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lecce said ontario led all provinces in school pandemic safety, with measures such as improved ventilation and hepa air filters. the province has strengthened the daily symptom quiz to help keep infected students and staff out of school and will restrict high-contact sports and extracurricular activities when classes resume.
major education unions were critical, urging the government to do more to prevent the spread of the virus at schools. the union representing english public elementary teachers, for instance, called for mandatory vaccines, hepa filters in all classes, a better plan to manage staff absences and reinstatement of robust testing, contact tracing and reporting of cases in schools, among other things.
the government also announced renewed efforts to get students vaccinated, especially children ages five to 11, who only became eligible for covid-19 vaccines in late november.
just more than 47 per cent of children in that age category in ontario have received first doses.
vaccination clinics will now be allowed to operate at schools during the school day.
moore faced criticism on social media for a comment he made at the media conference when responding to a question about why the government had not mandated vaccines at schools.

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“it is a new vaccine, and, as a result of that, we want greater experience with it before we would ever mandate it, and i don’t think any jurisdiction in canada has mandated the vaccine to date,” he said.
however, moore also added later about the pediatric vaccine: “i strongly believe in the benefit of the vaccine for this age group, in particular its ability to reduce severe outcomes such as hospitalization and use of intensive care units.”

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