Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his government will make announcements “early next week” about when licenced childcare and public schools can re-open, but the current emergency measures may prevent that from occurring this month.
“So we’re going to make it clear next week – early next week we’ll have an announcement on that and before someone asks we’ll have an announcement on going back to school,” Ford said.
“They’re just crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s on the plan going forward.”
Schools have been closed since before March Break, and daycare facilities other than home daycares have been shut since March 13.
The Ford government has been slowly allowing workplaces to re-open, allowing curbside retail pickup to occur on Monday, with more steps planned.
But they are also planning to extend emergency measures that in the past have included the closure of schools, up until June 2.
Yesterday, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the plan on whether to reopen schools was still being formulated.
Ford said Monday that although recent coronavirus infection numbers have been encouraging, they will have to see continued declines before more measures can relax.
“Until we see a consistent (downward) flow for two weeks...we have seen some progress...we’re crossing our fingers we’re on the right path right now. Hopefully sooner than later.”
