Gearing up for the resumption of in-class learning next week.

In a emailed statement to Acadia News, a spokesperson for the Education Minister stressed that there are improvements to ventilation, personal protective equipment and vaccinations coming from Queen’s Park:

We have now shipped 9.1 million non-fitted N95 masks for staff and over 4 million three-ply masks for students, and will regularly send new shipments over the coming weeks and months, with masking being mandatory within Ontario schools.

We have accelerated access to booster shots for education and child care staff by standing up over 10 more clinics in the past several days alone, in addition to providing access through mass-vaccination sites, pharmacies and other dedicated clinics.

We are deploying an additional 3,000 standalone HEPA filter units to schools boards on top of the existing 70,000 HEPA filter units and other ventilation devices already in schools.

We are continuing take home PCR testing eligibility for symptomatic elementary and secondary students, and education staff, and are working to make more rapid antigen tests available to schools and child care centres.

The province unveiled changes Tuesday in the schools, which includes the elimination of reporting cases and only utilizing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) COVID-19 tests for students and staff who become symptomatic at school.

Stephen Lecce is expected to unveil more alongside the Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore on Wednesday.