Eastern Ontario's top doctor hopes for normal school year
Eastern Ontario's top doctor hopes the new school year will be as "normal as possible", suggesting closing down schools or imposing new restrictions will pose a higher risk to children than COVID-19.
Teachers, students and parents are preparing to return to school in September for the fourth school year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2019-2020, 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years featured temporary school closures, classroom closures and cohorts in schools at various times.
In his weekly address on the COVID-19 situation, Eastern Ontario medical officer of health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis said layers of protection in the community would help schools this fall.
"I do believe that it’s important for the kids to go back to school as normal as possible," Dr. Roumeliotis said.
"As a pediatrician, I can tell you that I believe the risk of closing down and doing all these restrictions in schools is probably higher than the risk of COVID at this point, although again we need to do our best to vaccinate everybody and use all the other layers of protection as well."
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit is reporting a low uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine for children under the age of 5 since its approval this summer.
Through the summer, the health unit has been "strongly recommending" people take steps to protect yourself and others from COVID-19, including staying up to date on the COVID-19 vaccine, wearing a mask in public indoor settings and crowded outdoor events where distancing is difficult and staying home if you are sick.
Dr. Roumeliotis says the health unit is continuing the rollout of the fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, saying it has helped decrease hospitalizations and severe disease in the region.
The Ontario government will announce the next steps of its "Plan to Stay Open" on Thursday. Health Minister Sylvia Jones said Wednesday that the plan will create stability in the province's health-care system and aid in the post-pandemic recovery.
Looking ahead to the fall, eastern Ontario's top doctor says there will be tools in place to deal with any future COVID-19 waves.
"I do believe that 2023 … perhaps would be the beginning of the end of the pandemic. We still another couple months but we do have the tools," Roumelitois said.
"We have the bivalent vaccine, we have antivirals that we will have a lot of information about … so all those tools in place make me more confident that we'll be able to withstand any little wave."
Several vaccine manufacturers are developing formulas that take into account the more infectious Omicron COVID-19 variant that has been driving cases. The new bivalent vaccine is expected to target the COVID-19 variant.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire' are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
‘We made them safer and more fun’: Here’s what’s new about e-scooters
Electric scooters (e-scooters) have been gaining popularity in the capital and this season comes with some changes and updates.
Two killed after collision with truck on Hwy. 417 near Limoges, Ont.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.
Houston braces for flooding to worsen in wake of storms
High waters flooded neighborhoods around Houston on Saturday following heavy rains that have already resulted in crews rescuing hundreds of people from homes, rooftops and roads engulfed in murky water.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Canadian Auger-Aliassime reaches first Masters final in Madrid with another walkover
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to his first ATP Masters final, and he hasn't had to play all that much tennis to do it.
Drew Carey is never quitting 'The Price Is Right'
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
The UN warns Sudan's warring parties that Darfur risks starvation and death if aid isn't allowed in
The United Nations food agency warned Sudan's warring parties Friday that there is a serious risk of widespread starvation and death in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan if they don't allow humanitarian aid into the vast western region.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.