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Ontario reports 733 new cases Wednesday
42 new cases reported in Ottawa
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Try refreshing your browser. COVID-19: Ontario schools to remain closed, but premier considers speeding up other reopening measures Back to video
Students won’t return to school before September, Premier Doug Ford announced Wednesday.
While acknowledging that the pandemic has been hard on children, the premier said if students head back to school, it could lead to thousands more cases and the spread of dangerous variants, especially the B.1.617.2 variant, first identified in India.
The decisions made Wednesday will help ensure a safe summer and a safe return to school in September when as many students and teachers as possible have received two doses of vaccine, said the premier, who cited modelling that showed cases could go up by as much as six to 11 per cent if schools reopened.