Some Ontario: Latest News

Ontario’s provincewide high school math test this year.Some school boards are asking the province’s permission to cancel the Education Quality and Accountability Office’s Grade 9 Math Assessment, while others are acting without seeking the government’s blessing. Some Ontario teachers refuse work over school COVID concerns Still, many are going ahead with the standardized EQAO test, as required by the Ministry of Education, despite a bevy of pandemic-induced interruptions including a two-week period of remote learning after the winter break and widespread absences brought on by the highly-contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19.But some say cutting the test — which is not a graduation requirement, but is used to assess student performance at the school, board and provincial level — is an easy way to ease students’ load during a third academic year altered by COVID-19.“It’s just adding burden to an already incredibly burdened system, from a mental health perspective, to students and staff and all their families,” said Kathleen Woodcock, a trustee with the Waterloo Region District School Board who’s introduced a motion to request another year of reprieve from the test, which was temporarily shelved last year due to the pandemic.The committee of the whole will vote on the motion next week.

COVID-19 safety concerns as students and staff members returned to in-person learning with less transparency about the virus in schools.Teachers say they’re concerned about lack of information on cases now that the province has cut back on testing and contact tracing, as well as ventilation standards and student mask quality. They consider individual labour action one of the last options they have to advocate for stronger safety standards in schools — but remain worried that student safety issues are falling through the cracks.

COVID-19 cases and one additional death in the region on Friday, bringing the total local number up to 10,918, including 231 deaths.Local public health also reported 72 new cases of a coronavirus variant on Thursday, bringing the total up to 3,772 — 667 of which are active. COVID-19: Some Ontario gym owners exploiting exception to stay open Twenty-six of the new cases are in Barrie, while 15 are in New Tecumseth, nine are in Innisfil and eight are in Bradford.The rest of the new cases are in Georgian Bay, Gravenhurst, Midland, Orillia, Severn, Tiny Township and Wasaga Beach.Twenty-one of the new cases are a result of close contact with another positive case, while nine are community-acquired and six are outbreak-related.

COVID-19 pandemic, right? Wrong, at least in some cases.Some gyms, likeHUF Boxing Gym in Mississauga, openly defied the government’s orders in April and reopened to clients, a story reported by Global News at the time.The mayor of Mississauga, Bonnie Crombie, warned HUF Gym would face consequences for its actions.“We don’t have a lot of tolerance for this, we’re going to give them the maximum fine,” Crombie said on April 16.

Doug Ford says his government will publicly report all cases of COVID-19 in the province’s schools.Ford says he believes parents should know where school outbreaks are occurring but it will take time to report.Under current provincial guidelines, schools are required to report COVID-19 cases to parents online or with a letter home.Ford says the province will report school figures much as it shares case numbers in the province’s long-term care homes.

COVID-19 pandemic, with one judge ruling a nine-year-old boy should return to in-person classes despite his father’s objections.In a decision released late last month, Ontario Superior Court Justice Andrea Himel said the case is one of many such disputes currently before the courts and seeking urgent resolution as schools prepare to reopen.She says the parents, who are divorced and share custody of their son, disagreed on whether the boy should attend classes in person or continue with the remote learning system put in place when schools were forced to close in March.

coronavirus cases since Friday, bringing the local total number of cases to 733, including 37 deaths.Twelve of the new cases involve people who are under the age of 35, including four who are under the age of 17.Eight of the new cases are in Barrie, Ont., while three are in Bradford, Ont., and two are in New Tecumseth, Ont. The other new cases are in Ramara, Innisfil, Wasaga Beach and Huntsville, Ont.

coronavirus and one person has recovered, health officials in London and Middlesex reported on Tuesday.That brings the region’s total case count to 739, of which 673 people have recovered. Fifty-seven people have died, most recently on June 12.There are at least nine known active cases in London-Middlesex.The most recent case was reported in London and involves someone in their 50s who became infected through contact with a confirmed case.

coronavirus cases in Ottawa has jumped following the Labour Day long weekend.There were 37 new lab-confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus added in Ottawa on Tuesday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases to 3,135 locally.The latest daily report via the Ontario COVID-19 dashboard comes after Ottawa added 76 coronavirus cases over the long weekend.Tuesday also marks the start of school for many students in Ottawa, but the virus is already making its impact in the city’s French Catholic school board.

reported 190 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Labour Day Monday and 185 cases on Tuesday marking almost 400 new infections in the province over the last two days.The provincial total now stands at 43,536.Monday’s case count marks the highest increase in cases since July 24.Ontario does not report provincial numbers on statutory holidays and so Tuesday’s report covers the last two days. Some Ontario students return to class for first time since COVID-19 pandemic began The death toll in the province remains at 2,811 as no new deaths were recorded on Monday or Tuesday.Meanwhile, 39,196 Ontarians have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, which is over 90 per cent of known cases.

COVID-19 pandemic.The province shuttered all schools on March 13 cases of coronavirus disease began to rise.This fall, boards will offer a mix of in-person classes and online learning for students who opt to stay home.Some boards in different parts of the province will reopen schools today, while others will begin to restart over the next two weeks.Last month, Education Minister Stephen Lecce gave boards permission to stagger school reopenings if they required more time to put pandemic safety protocols in place.

Some Ontario doctors may not receive pay for a few months because of billing issues around virtual and phone appointments. Erica Vella reports.