Ontario's Top Doctor Says He Wants Students Back In School Before Step 1 Of Reopening

While the province won't be heading into the first step of the reopening plan until at least mid-June, a top doctor is now aiming to reopen Ontario schools for in-person learning sooner rather than later.

Dr. David Williams, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, announced during a press conference on Tuesday that he is aiming for schools to open provincewide before stage one of the government's new reopening plan.

"Ideally, I'd like the schools to open before we enter step one of our exit strategy," Williams said. "The number of cases coming down means that our large health units like Peel and Toronto are feeling more assured that they can do the case contact management."

"Our schools were safe before we closed down in the rapid rise of the third wave, at that time we got overwhelmed and we couldn't guarantee the ongoing safety," he added. "Now most of the medical officers of health in the province of Ontario, including those in the GTA, feel that they are pretty well ready to move on that as soon as possible."

In fact, during the conference, Williams even stated that a discussion is taking place to open some schools on a regional basis by the first week of June.