With the Christmas break quickly approaching, NEWSTALK 1010 set out to look at how things have gone so far.
Have the COVID-19 protocols worked? How much spread is happening in the schools?
But the story we found, is somewhat different: A new call to change the way children are screened for the virus before they head to class.
NEWSTALK 1010's Tiffany Hendsbee has the story:
A week after Toronto and Peel brought in tougher COVID-19 screening for students in schools, there is a new call to roll out similar guidelines across the province.
"We want to be able to do more to be able to block COVID from coming into the school," Dr. Vinita Dubey, Toronto's Associate Medical Officer of Health, said last Friday.
It was the day Toronto Public Health announced that any student with even a mild COVID-19 symptom, should get tested or stay home for 10 days.
"We've found that some of those people have actually had COVID and resulted in spreading in the school," Dubey said.
Now, an infections disease expert from the University of Toronto is calling on the province to make these guidelines the new standard.
The provincial government's screening guidelines allow a student with certain mild symptoms, such as a runny nose, to return to school after 24 hours if the symptom improves.
Dr. Anna Banerji says it shouldn't be that way.
"It's getting those sick kids out of circulation," she says. "The end game is trying to keep the schools open."
Dr. Banerji says children do get COVID-19 and it often presents with only minor symptoms.
She adds that COVID-19 is the main virus circulating at the moment, "so, the kid has a new sore throat and runny nose, chances are it's COVID."
Dr. Banerji understands that it can be tough for parents to keep their children home for ten days but points out that it's short-term pain for longer-term gain.
"Look at the long game. You keep your kid at home so that other kids don't get COVID, or another virus that looks similar to COVID, so that we can continue to keep the schools open long-term."
WHAT ABOUT TESTING?
When the new guidelines were announced in Toronto, Dr. Dubey said that case investigations and expanded testing have shown that those with very mild symptoms, in some cases, had COVID-19 which resulted in spreading in the school.
A pilot program involving asymptomatic testing at Thorncliffe Park Public School uncovered more than two dozen cases.
Dr. Banerji says that at the moment, we don't really know what's going in schools. "When you're not testing all these kids with runny noses and sore throats, we're not measuring really, the impact of what's happening in schools."
However, she says without the resources to do widespread rapid testing, the limited number of tests might be better used in other areas.
"Instead of testing for asymptomatic cases in school, I think that rapid testing would be better used in remote communities in the north," she explains.
WHAT'S THE PROVINCE SAYING?
A spokesperson for Education Minister Stephen Lecce said he was unavailable for an interview earlier this week.
Asked whether the provincial guidelines are strong enough and whether it's time to consider stricter guidelines province-wide, spokesperson Caitlin Clark sent the following statement:
"We have followed the guidance of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and other medical experts throughout this pandemic and will continue to do so.
Our guidance provides a baseline, as endorsed by the Chief Medical Officer of Health. As has always been the case, local medical officers of health have the option to augment and enhance measures, based on their local situations and circumstances."