COVID-19 cases continue to spike in Halton and around the province.
The decision was made this past week to not reopen schools. Yesterday, Ontario’s Education Minister, Stephen Lecce, told myFM News that the decision was not taken lightly, calling it the safest option.
Associate Medical Officer of Health for Halton Region, Dr. Deepika Lobo, says the case numbers among children are currently too high to risk possible outbreaks.
She says the actual transmission of COVID-19 was relatively low in schools between September – December, 2020. If there had been a case in a school, the cohorts were isolated and the situation didn’t have a chance to spread. Dr. Lobo says that it was possible to do that if the cases were low, but now with school-aged children being a source of high case numbers, it’s a lot harder to trace, maintain, and isolate all of the cohorts, as well as staff.
With the spike happening during the holidays, it can be easy to provide a guess as to how the numbers may have become what they are during the first half of January. Dr. Lobo says that while it’s hard to pinpoint the exact cause, she feels the holiday break is likely the driving force.
She adds that travel and the new COVID-19 variant could also be contributing factors.
At this point, everyone knows what needs to be done, says Dr. Lobo. Residents need to adhere to the public health guidelines and follow the rules of the shutdown. She asks residents to stay inside unless for necessary travel and to not join up for social gatherings. She understands that it can be frustrating to be forced to stay inside and remain physically distanced from others. That said, Dr. Lobo stresses that with the vaccine currently in distribution, this may only be for a few more weeks or months.
For more on the COVID-19 vaccine in Halton, including information on the different vaccines available and approved in Canada, click here.
