TORONTO – For Ontario students, the Christmas holidays have officially begun. What is not clear at the moment is whether the doors of the schools will reopen on January 4, but the current situation suggests that it will not happen. 

Covid-19 – Omicron variant on the front line – has recorded a worrying boom in infections in the last two weeks: there have been 339 new infections within twenty-four hours, 285 of which have affected students, the schools that have reported active cases are 1,236 out of a total of 4,844 or 25.51%.

The number of schools closed, day after day, has risen considerably until Friday: from 20 and 28 of the previous week it jumped first to 47, then to 60 and finally to 72. The latest schools, where Toronto Public Health has reported covid-19 outbreaks, are St. Joachim Catholic School and Sir John A Macdonald Collegiate Institute in Scarborough, Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy in East York and Blessed Sacrament Catholic School in Toronto.

Today’s 4,177 new infections in Ontario, which followed 3,301 on Saturday, are of great concern that, as has already happened in similar situations, other restrictions have been triggered. Even as far as the world of school is concerned, the province is now hesitating. The government’s position regarding school, as evidenced by the words of Doug Ford has begun to wobble. The mantra “schools are safe, schools will not close”, turned into “it is too early to say for sure whether schools in the province will reopen as planned after the Christmas holidays”. “I know you are worried about your children’s schools and what might happen with the start of the new year,” Ford said at the conference called to announce new restrictions. We just can’t say that at the moment.”

The statement made by Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Kieran Moore just last week falters: “Schools are the first to open and the last to close,” he said.

The premier of the province has acknowledged that the situation is changing rapidly and school holidays could be extended in order to better control the spread of the virus. “The situation continues to evolve quickly, which is why we can’t know what it will be in early January,” Ford said.

It should be noted that before the start of the holidays the school boards of the province did not receive any clear communication in this regard from the government. Each school board – Toronto, Peel, Durham just to name a few – have asked the students on their own initiative to take home the teaching material in view of a possible closure and therefore the need to switch to distance learning.

Once again – it also happened last year – the government is forced to retrace its steps. Its certainties crumble like sand castles. Meanwhile, parents and children are left at the mercy of the waves.