BREAKING: Ontario to drop school masking requirements after March Break, sources say
The announcement, expected Wednesday, signals another move by the province to return to as close to normal as possible after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even though a new sub-variant has appeared and is more contagious than Omicron, it has not caused an increase in hospitalizations so far. Premier Doug Ford, who is in Brantford Wednesday morning to make a local health-care announcement, has said he wants theEducation Minister Stephen Lecce was asked about masking rules in schools at a curriculum announcement on Tuesday.
Moore has previously said “the worst is behind us, but there is an ongoing risk” but that “we’ll be reviewing masking in public on the second or third week of March and make decisions for all public spaces, including schools in that time frame. Ontario has ordered more COVID-19 lockdowns that any other province or U.S. state and students have missed more in-person classes than anywhere on the continent and across most of Europe. However, it has recorded fewer deaths per capita than other provinces and bordering U.S. states, including Quebec, Manitoba, New York and Michigan.