Ontario's top doctor says the province is working to implement rapid COVID-19 testing in schools.
Dr. David Williams says the tests will allow for greater surveillance of the virus and will help students return to in-person learning across the province.
Schools in several regions of southern Ontario -- including the Greater Toronto Area -- have been entirely online since the beginning of January.
Williams has said the province hopes to open them by Feb. 10 but says today that rapid testing may not be available by that date.
He says he wants the testing to be convenient for parents, unlike the long lineups seen at COVID-19 testing centres last fall.
Ontario has been reopening its schools at staggered intervals over the past few weeks, starting with northern and rural areas were virus case rates remain low.
Dr. Williams did acknowledge schools that remain closed in the four public health units - Toronto, York, Peel, and Durham - may not reopen to in-person learning on February 10th as expected because of the threat the new variants pose.