LILLEY: Province makes right decision in keeping southern Ontario schools closed

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Parents trying to keep little ones engaged in online learning over the last week will have to keep at it for a few more weeks.

If you haven’t heard, the province has said that due to community spread of COVID-19, elementary school students who were supposed to return to class Monday will be out for another two weeks.

“This is tough for everyone,” Dr. David Williams said Thursday.

He’s not speaking as a parent trying to corral little ones into Zoom gym class and spelling lessons, but perhaps he’s speaking as a grandfather as well as in his role as the province’s chief medical officer of health.

Williams announced that due to rising positivity rates among younger school-aged children, he is ordering schools in all but the northern part of the province to remain closed until Jan. 25.

Data provided by the province shows in the week of Nov. 29 to Dec. 5, children aged 4-11 had a positivity rate of 5.22%. By the first week of the Christmas break, Dec. 20-26, that number had risen to 7.23%. And by the second week, Dec. 27 to Jan. 2, it was 15.66%.

For children aged 12-13, the increase went from 5.44% to 19.78% over the same time period.

It’s true that the number of tests for those age groups dropped but the total numbers were significant enough to warrant concern. These numbers show a high degree of community spread.

To put this in perspective, the positivity rate for the whole province was 7% last week and 5.9% in nursing homes. Before the Christmas break, schools were not a major concern. Now they are.

“While schools have been safe places for kids, the sharp rise in community transmission puts that progress and Ontario families at risk,” Education Minister Stephen Lecce said.

This decision is bound to anger some parents and make others feel relieved, something Williams said he has been hearing about in emails from parents.

“I open up one and it says, ‘Don’t be crazy, keep the schools closed.’ Open another it says, ‘Don’t be crazy, open up the schools.’ People are caught between the two,” Williams said.

Even though I don’t have young kids in school anymore, I understand both sides. I also understand the position of the government here and think they’re doing the right thing.