Ontario 'Won't Hesitate' To Shut Schools Right Back Down If COVID-19 Cases Start To Spike

More Ontario schools are reopening next week, but the province says they're keeping an eye on whether or not they can stay open for long.

Ontario's Education Minister Stephen Lecce said on Wednesday that the province "will not hesitate to act" if trends start to go in the wrong direction.

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In a press conference, Minister Lecce announced that schools in Windsor-Essex, Hamilton and all other remaining public health units will be returning to school on Monday, February 8.

Schools in Toronto, Peel and York will return the following week, on Tuesday, February 16.

But Minister Lecce clarified that officials will be closely monitoring COVID-19 trends while the schools are open.

"I also want to remind families that your local public health unit always retains the authority to close schools to in-person learning if they feel that is required to protect their communities," Lecce said.

Speaking to reporters later that day, Toronto's Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa said officials would be monitoring multiple things when it came to deciding whether schools would remain open or closed.

Officials will keep an eye out for multiple infections within a school and unknown sources of infections, Dr. de Villa said, to see if further investigation or caution might be required.