An Ontario City Is Shutting Down All Of Their Schools To Stop COVID-19 Spreading
As schools across Ontario continue to close due to COVID-19 outbreaks, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) has ordered all schools in the area to move to remote and online learning.
The announcement was made today by WECHU's Medical Officer of Health Dr. Wajid Ahmed, who said the order may be extended depending on COVID-19 data.
Schools in Windsor and Essex County will be shut down on Monday, December 14, until Friday, December 18 — at which point winter holidays begin in the province.
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All elementary and secondary school students [must] transition to online/remote learning effective Monday, December 14.
Dr. Wajid Ahmed
Ahmed pointed to evidence of "ongoing community transmission" in his decision to require schools to transition to remote learning.
"An extension of this order may be considered based on COVID-19 epidemiological data for Windsor and Essex County," Ahmed said.
Ahmed said that while the schools will be closed to all students, the buildings will stay open for teachers and full-time daycares.
Further information will be provided on Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m. in a press conference, according to the statement.
Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams spoke to reporters at a press conference on Thursday and said that Windsor-Essex County was "unique" in terms of how high the case growth was.
He did not directly answer a question about if he expected other regions to follow suit with their own closures.