Kids who travel for March Break will be allowed back to school: Ford

Children who travel abroad for March Break will be allowed back into Ontario classrooms upon their return, Premier Doug Ford says, although that could change as the COVID-19 situation evolves.

OTTAWA — Children who travel abroad for March Break will be allowed back into Ontario classrooms upon their return, Premier Doug Ford says, but that could change.

“As of right now, yes, they will be able to come back to school,” Ford said in an interview with Newstalk 580 CFRA’s The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll on Thursday about the COVID-19 situation in the province.

“I want to emphasize that if things continue moving forward at a rapid pace, that may change,” he added. “As the scenario changes, we’ll make sure that we change.”

Earlier this week, the New Brunswick government ordered anyone who travelled outside of Canada to stay away from schools in the province for two weeks.

The directive from the province’s education minister states that children, students, staff, volunteers and family members returning from abroad must avoid public schools, early-learning facilities and school district offices for 14 days from the date of their return.

As the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise in Canada, public health officials and the federal government are urging people to check online travel advisories before going on trips.

Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, said Wednesday that Canadians with international travel plans during March break should do a "precautionary assessment."

"Do you need to go on the trip? Where are you going on the trip? What are your risk factors of you going on the trip? Do you have health conditions? What's the risk factor of taking your children on the trip? What kind of behaviour are you going to be involved with at that end? What kind of ability are you going to have to limit your social distancing in those settings?" he said.

"It's one thing to be in a very crowded international venue versus you're just going down and have an AirBnB somewhere and sit on the beach with your kids."

Ontario's education minister is asking anyone returning from trips to follow public health guidelines regarding countries considered coronavirus hotspots.

Ford is in Ottawa for a meeting with other Canadian premiers.

In the interview Thursday morning, Ford said his government is “planning for every scenario” and is prepared to open new treatment centres if necessary.

“We have sites available across the province. We have mobile testing units going out, spread out across the province as well,” he said.

“We’re in the containment stage right now, but our whole team is ready…they’ll be able to handle it.”

With files from The Canadian Press