School boards call on government to reinstate COVID reporting, tracking

Some school boards in Ontario are calling on the province to reinstate COVID-19 reporting and tracking protocols when schools reopen next week.

Public health units will only be required to notify families if 30 per cent of staff and students are absent, but they may not be told if all absences are due to the virus.

When asked during a news conference on Wednesday why the government is no longer reporting COVID-19 data in schools, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health said the province modified its protocols in its “pivot from Delta to Omicron.”

Dr. Kieran Moore said the province will continue to report certain COVID-19 data, such as virus-related admissions to hospitals for children between the ages of five to 11 and 12 to 17.

With just a few days away before the return to in-class learning, parents here in Hamilton are expressing mixed emotions regarding safety in schools.