COVID-19 resurgence shuts down in-person learning in some Ottawa classes

Not even two weeks since Ontario’s mask mandate was lifted, students in several classes across Ottawa have been forced to stay home from school.

And some parents are getting increasingly concerned about the lack of masking rules as the COVID-19 wastewater levels in the city soar to new highs.

“Each day there are fewer kindergarteners wearing their masks,” says Ottawa family physician Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth. “And there are fewer teachers wearing their masks.

“My daughter, who is in Grade 8, is not going to school,” added Kaplan-Myrth. “And has not been back to school since the winter break. Because she has done all the right things and she sees her friends going to school with COVID.”

Kaplan-Myrth says she has kept her daughter home from school since Christmas. She is sticking to virtual learning for now.

Eleven in-person classes in the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board were temporarily closed on Friday due to staff shortage issues, the board told CTV News Ottawa.

And these schools are not in a cluster. This is note from a school in Orléans.

“We are reminding all parents that when we cannot replace all of our absent staff we begin to consider class closures. We closed one class yesterday, and we will be closing 5 tomorrow.”

And this from another school in Kanata:

“I am reaching out to inform you that the school is experiencing a high rate of staff absenteeism. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we have not been able to secure enough occasional teachers to cover all classes.”

Epidemiologist Colin Furness says the Ford government lifted COVID-19 restrictions too early and fed into a sixth wave.

“I’ve heard from many teachers, kids telling them they’ve got COVID and that their parents just gave them Tylenol and sent them to school,” Furness said. “So not only do you have no protection, but you’ve got a mindset that says, ‘let’s just get them all infected.’ And this is a terrible, terrible policy.”

Furness and other infectious disease experts have argued that removing masks and vaccine passports this early made things worse. 

“We’ve got more than a million vulnerable people in the school system who are not vaccinated,” Furness said. “Some of them are in for a really rough ride.”

“We took a population that was actually by and large, willing to do what we said would help to prevent spread and was effective in helping to prevent spread if people kept their masks on,” says Kaplan-Myrth. “And now look what’s happening.”