A crowd of parents and children in a playground during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on April 4th. The country is experiencing a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images / Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images Hide caption
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Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images / Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images
A crowd of parents and children in a playground during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on April 4th. The country is experiencing a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images / Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images
The resurgence of COVID-19 cases due to virus variants across Canada has forced the country’s largest city to suspend face-to-face learning.
All primary and secondary school students in Toronto will be returning to distance learning on Wednesday with no option to return before April 18 Announced Tuesday.
“The spread of COVID-19 has never been greater in Toronto than it is today. Worrying variants increase both the risk of transmission and the risk of serious illness or death,” said a press release announcing the measure. “To reverse the wave of infections the province is currently facing, stricter public health measures are needed.”
City guides said the order can be extended if the cases don’t fall.
Dr. Theresa Tam, the Chief Public Health Officer for Canada, said Tuesday The recent COVID-19 surge is due to contagious variants in many regions of the country.
“With severe and critical illnesses continuing to increase, weighing heavily on health systems in many places, it is clear that constraints will be required for the community for a while,” she said in a statement.
Since the pandemic began, Canada has seen more than 1 million COVID-19 cases and more than 23,000 reported deaths. Over the past week, experts have reported an average of 6,100 new cases and 31 deaths daily, Tam said.
“As the infection rate increases, we are seeing more younger adults with COVID-19 receiving hospital treatment,” said Tam. “This is a reminder that COVID-19 can affect people of all ages and serious illnesses can occur at any age . “
The number of hospitalizations is up 4% from the previous week and the rate of intensive care units is up 18%, she said. Variant B.1.1.7, which causes a more severe illness and is considered more deadly, continues to account for more than 90% of cases of the COVID-19 variant, she said.
Tam urged Canadians to limit their travel as much as possible as health officials try to contain the spread of the third wave.
