TORONTO -- With the usual winter break approaching for schools, several provinces are looking at extending that break as a tool in the fight against the second wave of COVID-19.
But school closures are still a hotly debated topic, with officials and parents juggling economic concerns and the educational needs of students with health concerns.
鈥淭his is a very challenging situation to navigate,鈥� Dr. Abdu Sharkawy, an infectious disease specialist, told CTV News Channel. 鈥淚 think most of us would agree, in an ideal scenario, we want kids to stay in school as long as possible, as long as schools remain relatively safe.鈥�
Quebec premier Francois Legault admitted last week that they were considering closing schools, and Manitoba鈥檚 premier Brian Pallister that the province might consider an extension on Christmas break for schools.
After provincial officials hinted a day earlier that a similar idea was on the table for Ontario schools, Education Minister Stephen Lecce that there would be no extended winter break in Ontario.
鈥淲e have consulted with the chief medical officer of health as well as the Public Health Measures Table and have determined that an extended winter holiday is not necessary at this time, given Ontario鈥檚 strong safety protocols, low levels of transmission and safety within our schools,鈥� Lecce said.
Ontario currently has a case positivity of 4.5 per cent and has been regularly breaking daily records for new case counts. More than 1,400 new cases were reported today.
As of Wednesday, three schools have closed in Ontario as a result of a COVID-19 outbreak, and 109 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Ontario schools within the last 24 hours alone.
In the big picture, schools have not proven to be the super spreader events that many worried they could be. But questions still remain on the role that schools could play in transmission, and as restrictions on other public gathering spaces increase in hotspots across the country, some have questioned why schools are still open when the rest of the population is being urged to stay home.
鈥淪chools I think are the unanswered question, and I think if we鈥檙e trying to be as precautious as possible in this type of situation, the likelihood is (it鈥檚) an area that we have to think about implementing pretty strong roadblocks,鈥� Dr. Jason Kindrachuk, a virologist at the University of Manitoba, told CTV News Winnipeg on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Nunavut shuttered all of their schools as part of a territory-wide shutdown for two weeks to try and halt the rapid spread of COVID-19 after cases more than doubled overnight to 60 cases on Tuesday -- the first province or territory to close schools completely since the closures of the first wave.
Outside of Canada, one of the U.S.鈥檚 biggest school boards has reversed course on their fall reopening of schools, with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announcing Wednesday that they would be closing schools to help battle a rise in COVID-19 cases.
The move was criticized by some who pointed out that indoor restaurant dining was still permitted in the city and non-essential businesses hadn鈥檛 had to close.
鈥淪chools should be the last things to close, not the first,鈥� City Council member Brad Lander said in a statement.
In the absence of a complete societal lockdown across a region, there are many difficulties with closing schools, such as the burden on parents struggling to make a living.
鈥淭he implications of having schools shut down for extended periods of time are enormous, especially with respect to parents and caregivers who can鈥檛 remain gainfully employed and perhaps can鈥檛 have a stable income provided for themselves and their family if they have to stay home to look after their kids,鈥� Sharkawy pointed out. 鈥淎nd so it鈥檚 a real ripple effect across the community.鈥�
He said that if case numbers continue to rise in Canada, schools won鈥檛 be able to stay open for long in many regions.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 realistic that we鈥檙e going to be able to keep our schools open throughout the winter, if the trends continue where they are right now,鈥� he said.
鈥淏ut if they are eventually closed and the winter break is extended, I think it鈥檚 going to have to happen in tandem with tangible financial support for small business owners and for anybody in the work force so that they are not hamstrung and compromised in their ability to care for their family, put food on the table and pay their rent by doing so.鈥�
The need for government support is something education experts have been emphasizing as well.
Many education experts feel abandoned by provincial governments, claiming that closing schools before trying to improve safety within the schools themselves is a cop out.
that the Legault government had stood by instead of making schools safer, as the number of COVID-19 cases in schools more than doubled between Oct. 1 and Nov 11.
"What we are asking of the government is that, if it is serious in its desire to prioritize the opening of schools, if it wants to do everything to avoid the closure of schools, it is time to put all means in place on the ventilation side, on the half-class attendance side and on the screening prioritization side,鈥� Hivon said last Friday.
It鈥檚 a viewpoint that Jennifer Brown, president of Elementary Teachers of Toronto, agrees with. Instead of an extended winter break, she wants to see more attention put into ensuring schools can be safe for children to physically attend.
鈥淏eing on a screen for five hours a day is not the best way to learn, and I鈥檓 concerned about the mental health of our students,鈥� she told CTV News Channel. She would prefer 鈥渋f the government would put in structures so that we can have smaller class sizes, so that we can have ventilation in schools, to make it a safe environment so parents feel confident about where their children are learning.鈥�
With the combination of virtual and in-person learning that has been occurring in some regions, they鈥檝e been able to have smaller classes, Brown said, making things slightly safer.
She said that while there鈥檚 no comprehensive statistics on how effective virtual learning is yet, 鈥渨hat we do know is that it is depressing,鈥� adding that there is a 鈥渟train鈥� for teachers and students.
鈥淎 longer winter break would be ideal for helping the province slow down the spread of COVID-19, but is it ideal for the students and for public education? That鈥檚 the real question,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淚 would like to suggest that it would be best that we focus on investing in our education system to make it so that students learn in an environment with others.鈥�
If we had a better handle on just what role children and schools played in the transmission of COVID-19, the way forward might be clearer, experts say.
Michael Gardam, an infectious disease specialist with the Women鈥檚 College Hospital, been doing enough testing.
鈥淚 think that we really should be testing kids so that we actually know what we鈥檙e talking about, because right now, I don鈥檛 think we really do have a good understanding,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 seem to be a problem, but [鈥 if a number of those kids are actually asymptomatic and they are part of the reason why we鈥檙e seeing increasing numbers, we should know that.
鈥淚 think all of us would want to keep schools open until we absolutely could not do so [鈥 but data is a really useful thing here, and I do find, a lot of the times, we鈥檙e partially flying blind.鈥�
With files from the Associated Press
